Final Battles
by KnowledgeandImagination
Summary: With the first battles over, Soul Society and it's allies turn to face the last challenge of all, Aizen. Will Soul Society be able to survive this final fight against such a powerful adversary? Fate is upon them, especially for one captain. Some Spoilers
1. Chapter 1 Mounting Tension

I don't own Bleach, or it's characters. They belong to Kubo Tite

_Events so far:_

_The battle has been going on for quite some time. In Hueco Mundo, Ichigo and the others have had a fierce battle with Yammy. They defeated the zero espada, but not without many injuries. Ulquiorra isn't dead, and has decided to join up with them, because he never liked Aizen, and Orihime has taught him how to feel. Nel also decides to join with them. The group gets ready to move into the main battle with Aizen. However, things are about to get complicated…_

_Meanwhile, in the fake Karakura town, the battle is raging badly. Soifon has defeated the second espada, but she is severely injured and weakened, but now fighting another strong arracar, and almost unable to hold out._

_Kyouraku is seeminglt defeated by Stark, and Ukitake is taking care of him._

_Yamamoto isn't doing anything, except for trying to keep Aizen at bay._

_The lieutenants are still recovering from their injuries. _

_And Lastly, Hitsugaya has defeated Halibel with a series of techniques that he developed recently. His power has increased dramatically, and he has moved on to attacking Aizen, but it appears that even at his full power, he is unable to finish him off…_

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Authors Notes

I have written a draft of the story. It continues from where the events so far left off. I don't know if you will like this story, because it is my first, and it was written around ch. 356. If you don't like it, then just don't read. It does involve Hitsugaya Toushirou (he's my favourite character) strongly, and like some fics, it also involves the concept of the Heavenly Guardian. Like I said, if you don't like it, don't read.

I also like writing in traditional Japanese way (honorifics, last names first) so I'm sorry if it bothers people

Thanks

* * *

Chapter 1-Mounting Tension

Toushirou's eyes widened in shock. Slowly, he looked down at the harsh steel of the blade lodged in his stomach. He looked up to see Aizen smirk in triumph as he pulled his zanpakutou out harshly. Blood spurted from the wound, splattering Toushirou's already bloodied clothes with fresh, crimson liquid.

_It… can't be…how?_

Pain ripped through his already battered body. His vision swam. He lost his footing in the air, and his small body pitched backwards, falling through the air, blood from his wound flying.

"Hitsugaya-kun!!!"

Momo's scream pierced the air like a sharp blade, causing everyone to pause for a moment to see what is happening. Momo pushed herself to her feet, despite her own wounds. Ignoring her own pain, she ran forward to catch the falling boy.

There was a thump as his body hit hers. She was unable to support his weight, and the force of the impact caused her to fall heavily upon the concrete roof of the building they were on. Toushirou's body rolled off of hers, and she heard him groan painfully.

Momo struggled to get up and crawled over to him. "Hitsugaya-kun! Toushirou! Are you okay?" She asked as she took in the deep wounds that covered his body. She'd watched as he battled past the female espada, and reached Aizen. But after a nail-biting fight, Aizen managed to overpower the already weakened captain and stab him in the stomach. Now his blood was flowing like a crimson river from his wounds, seeping into his and Momo's robes and staining it a dark red.

Toushirou focused his gaze on Momo. "Mo…mo… why …are you…here?" he managed to choke out.

" I wanted to help," Momo whispered, "I decided to help fight Aizen, because he is the enemy and the one who did this to us all."

Toushirou closed his eyes for a moment, a pained expression on his face. "You fool, Momo, you could get yourself killed."

Momo let out an indignant gasp. "You can't talk! Especially after what just happened, you don't have the right to tell me that I'm going to get killed!"

"Yes, but I'll live. Now I'll have to protect you, though-" he broke off as his body suddenly racked with coughs. Blood came out of his mouth, and his pale skin whitened even more. His breath came in ragged gasps, as if he could not get oxygen into his lungs.

"Toushirou!" Momo cried, fear gripping her like a cold claw, all annoyance forgotten. She didn't think that he was hurt this bad.

"Momo…watch out!" came Toushirou's strangled cry.

Momo looked up and choked on a cry of horror. One of undefeated espada was streaking toward them, obviously intending to finish them off. She was paralyzed with fear.

_Slash_

Momo squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain, and the feeling of cold steel in her flesh, but none came. She cracked the eyes open. A figure stood in front of her, and in the way of the blade. The blade was stuck in his chest, just inches from his heart, and his tattered captains haori fluttered in the slight breeze, staining red with this new wound.

"Tou…shi…rou…" she breathed in shock.

"See…Momo, I did have to protect you," he said in a voice barely audible, his breathing heavy.

The Espada smirked and jerked his zanpakutou out of Toushirou's body. The captain gasped in pain as more blood burst from the wound. Blood came from his mouth as he tried to breath, caused by a newly punctured lung. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed backwards into Momo's arms, his zanpakutou slipping out of his hand and landing a few feet away with a clatter.

"Toushirou?" Momo asked fearfully. When he didn't respond, she began to panic. "Toushirou! Wake up! Please, wake up, Shirou-chan!" Her voice grew more and more shrill with each word. "Don't die!"

"Heh, the espada smirked, "there's no way he could've survived. I've already defeated one captain. He's just another. Now, for you." He raised his zanpakutou.

Suddenly, a burst of reiatsu appeared behind Momo. All turned as the sky behind them suddenly ripped open, revealing a gaping space. Stark narrowed his eyes at the unexpected garganta. There was a dark flash of colour, and the next moment, the espada found himself crossed swords with a man. The man wore an expression grim calm, his white silk scarf settling on his shoulders in the aftermath of his shunpo.

"Hmm, another challenger," the espada said thoughtfully. "You don't have a haori, but I sense the power of a captain. My name is Coyote Stark, espada one. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"

The man's expression did not change, and he replied in a voice devoid of emotion "Sixth division captain…Kuchiki Byakuya."

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_And that's the first chapter. I know it's short, but I just wanted to try this out._ _Many of you really hate me for writing such depressing things, but it will get better. It just has to get...a little worse before that, so bear with me. The ending will be good, I hope. The next chapter will have other characters come in._

_Another note: there isn't supposed to be much romance in this story, but if there was any, well, just check my profile to see what pairings I will write. I hope it doesn't offend anyone_


	2. Chapter 2 The Arrival of Help

Note: Though I am up to date with the latest Bleach chapters, I wrote this story before ch. 360. I will try and incorporate new things in, but it will be hard, since I already wrote it and it's hard to change things. So please bear with me.

Also, the reason I take so long to put up new chapters is that I wrote the original by hand, and I'm too lazy to type it.

* * *

_Chapter 2-The Arrival of Help_

"_Hmm, another challenger," the espada said thoughtfully. "You don't have a haori, but I sense the power of a captain. I am Coyote Stark. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"_

_The man's expression did not change, and he replied in a voice devoid of emotion "Sixth division captain…Kuchiki Byakuya."_

The two pushed hard against each other's blades for a moment and leapt away from the force of the push, glaring at each other.

"Were you the one to do this to the boy?" Byakuya demanded, inclining his head ever so slightly at Toushirou. Stark shook his head. "I only gave one blow, though it was probably the finishing one. Halibel and Aizen-sama dealt the rest to him. Of-course, if you want to avenge him, then you're out of luck. Halibel's dead and you can't defeat me, or Aizen-sama, but you're welcome to try." Byakuya narrowed his eyes at Stark.

Momo stared at Byakuya in disbelief. She found her voice at last. "Kuchiki-taichou! How did you…why…what?" she trailed off, unsure of how to confront the captain.

"Hinamori-fukutaichou, get him away from here immediately," Byakuya said in a cool, but commanding voice.

"Ah…yes sir!" she said, hurrying to pick up Toushirou and his zanpakutou, which she slid into her obi. _Is it just me,_ she thought, or was _Kuchiki-taichou worried about Hitsugaya-kun. He seemed angry that he was hurt, but it's always so hard to tell with him. Still, I wasn't aware that he and Hitsugaya-kun even had any contact._

She was about to move forward when suddenly, an orange haired Shinigami fell clumsily out of the senkaimon. The shock cause her to fall over, and Toushirou's body to fall on her heavily.

"Oi! Why did you push me, Rukia? I can walk perfectly fine on my own!" he yelled behind him, a vein popping in his forehead.

"Shut up, you're too slow, strawberry." Rukia said as she stepped out, albeit with much more grace.

"What did you call me, midget?" the hotheaded shinigami yelled, while Renji, Unohana, Zaraki, Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Nemu, along with a glasses-wearing boy, an orange haired girl, and a huge, muscular boy stepped out of the senkaimon. They all followed in a much more dignified manner than Ichigo.

"Anyways, it's not _my _fault that Byakuya decided to suddenly open a senkaimon and make us all go through! How did he even manage it?" Ichigo continued his complaints, to which no one took any notice.

"Whatever," Zaraki said, grinning with satisfaction, "At least now we finally get to fight the real battle." His eyes suddenly fell upon Toushirou. "Hey, what happened to the midget?"

"Shirou-chan seems to be hurt badly, Ken-chan!" came a child-like female voice. Yachiru suddenly popped up from behind Zaraki, which explained why no one had seen her before this. "Peachy-chan, what happed?" she questioned Momo.

"Uh…well-" she was cut off as the orange-top suddenly stopped his complaints and yelled, "What the hell? What happened to him?"

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Rukia said in shock, while Orihime gasped "Toushirou-kun!" The others merely widened their eyes in shock.

"He fought the 3rd espada, and then Aizen. Then he got hurt by the first espada protecting me," Momo said in a quiet voice. Ignoring the various expressions on everyone's faces, she said, "Excuse me, but Kuchiki-taichou told me to get him out of here."

Picking up the small captain again, she ran past them and toward the safety of the barrier she's left when Toushirou fell, and where the others were waiting, tension in the air.

Komamura let her back in. She gave the man a nod of gratitude as he took Toushirou's body and helped set him down. She was shocked when he returned the gesture, a look of grief crossing his face. Komamura hated to see his comrades fall.

"Taichou!" Matsumoto's distressed voice filled the air as soon as they entered the barrier. "TAICHOU!"

Momo knelt beside her childhood friend and placed Hyourinmaru down beside him. Izuru crawled over to them, murmuring in shock, "Hitsugaya-taichou…"

Toushirou's face was deathly pale and contorted in pain. He was gasping for breath, even though unconscious. His skin was ice-cold and clammy, and sweat rolled down his forehead. His wounds still bled heavily.

"Incredible," Izuru said, "His wounds are very serious. Any ordinary shinigami, even captain class ones, whom suffer wounds of this severity would be dead by now. And the fact that he's still not yet physically mature should add to the severity of the situation. It's a miracle that he's still breathing."

"Kira-kun!" Momo exclaimed, shocked, while Matsumoto flashed him a pained look. "Are you sure?"

"Though my stay there was short, my time at fourth division has not lest me. Any fourth division member knows how to recognize these things." Izuru said solemnly, bowing his head.

"Can you heal him?" Momo asked desperately.

A pained look crossed Izuru's face. "Unfortunately, I have already spent all my energy healing Matsumoto-san and you."

Matsumoto closed her eyes painfully. Momo felt tears brim in her eyes. _Once again, _she thought, _once again, I just create trouble for him. Once again, he's dying because of me.

* * *

_

Ichigo watched as the petite girl ran off. There was something about the way she clutched Toushirou so desperately that made him wonder.

He turned his attention back to Byakuya. He and the espada seemed to be evenly matched. Or almost. Though Byakuya had managed to avoid most of his attacks, he was unable to land any attacks of his own. But the captain was certainly not showing any signs of giving up.

"So, here are the rest of them," came an emotionless voice. Ichigo turned to see Ulquiorra and Nel step out of the senkaimon, with its doors closing after them. He still had trouble adjusting to the fact that Ulquiorra was now on their side.

He had thought Ulquiorra dead when he disintegrated, but the fourth espada had suddenly appeared along with Nel as they were in a critical moment in the fight with Yammy. With everyone's powers combined, they had defeated the zero espada. Ulquiorra had explained that he had suddenly awoken, in perfect health, at the base of Las Noches (something that no one had an answer for). He's found Nel beside him, asking him what he wanted to do. She had made it clear that if he were to attack Ichigo and his friends that she would kill him then and there. But Ulquiorra had wanted nothing more to do with Aizen. In fact he never did.

"Hey, Ulquiorra, are you really-" Ichigo began, but Ulquiorra interrupted.

"I do not wish to repeat myself. I no longer wish to follow Aizen. I finally understand what it means to have a heart." He looked toward the figure of Orihime, who had run off at the first chance to heal the wounded, with Uryu in tow. "She made me realize it. I know that this is a war that I cannot avoid if I want my freedom, so I will fight with you."

"Same here!" Nel chirped. Even as an adult, she sometimes acted much like a child.

The two former espada looked toward Aizen, Gin, and Tosen. Aizen's mouth turned up in a sneer.

"Ulquiorra, Neliel. I thought you were dead."

"I suppose you are not really observant then," Ulquiorra replied.

"So you've decided to betray your master?"

"I don't see it that way. I prefer to think of it as you unable to see my true nature. You understand that, don't you Aizen-_sama._"

"Oh yes, all to well. But unlike you, my revelation of my true colours to soul society benefits me, while you've just decreed you death sentence."

Ukitake looked up from where he was sitting beside Kyouraku. "Help has come, Shunsui," he said.

"Mmm," Kyouraku said, "Interesting situation, isn't it, to fight alongside our previous enemies."

Suddenly, he pushed himself to his feet. "Shunsui?" Ukitake asked.

"Mou, I've lazed around long enough. I can't let young Byakuya-kun fight for me anymore." He sad, stretching dramatically, wincing slightly.

Ukitake would have objected if he didn't know that it would be no use. But he knew Shunsui better than anyone, and he knew that there was no point in changing his mind. So instead, he only smiled and said, "be glad that he didn't hear you say that. He is rather like Hitsugaya-taichou when it comes to respect."

Kyouraku grinned.

Zaraki, meanwhile, was on a rampage, killing weak hollows and arrancars alike while Yachiru sheered from her position on his shoulder, saying happily, "Yay, yay! Go Ken-chan! Kill 'em all! Hee, hee, this is so funnn!"

"Yeah, but I wish that there would be one that would last more than a minute," Zaraki complained, a maniacal grin on his face.

Just as the words left his mouth, however, he found himself suddenly crossed swords with Tosen. The blind man's eyebrows were furrowed in anger.

"Zaraki. Even now, you kill without reason. This is murder."

Zaraki laughed one of his insane laughs that sent chills down you spine. "Tosen. Making no sense as usual. At least now we can actually fight and have some fun!"

"Yay! Ken-chan's gonna have fun!" Yachiru piped up, hopping off his shoulder. "I'm gonna go kill some hollows, 'kay, Ken-chan?"

"Whatever," Zaraki said, grinning at Tosen, waiting for the man to attack.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes at Stark, who looked back, laid-back and unconcerned.

"I told you that you wouldn't be able to kill me. Believe it now? It's hopeless."

"No," Byakuya replied. " I have not even released my zanpakutou yet. How can you decide that now?"

Stark considered him. "Hmm, you've got a point. All right, then, I humor you a little longer."

He raised his gun-like weapons and fired a few shots at Byakuya, who managed to dodge. "Just hurry up and release it so I don't have to wait around to kill you."

Byakuya narrowed his eyes at the espada. He knew that he would not wait that long. He lifted his zanpakutou.

"Chire, Sendonzakura."

The tiny, sakura petal blades rose up in a pale pink storm. They swirled around Stark, surrounding him completely, about to finish him.

Yet suddenly, a smirk crossed Stark's face. Before one could blink, he vanished from within the blades. A sharp pain exploded in Byakuya's side. He stared, an expression of surprise almost on his face, and the hand half submerged in his side. The hand withdrew, causing blood to burst from the wound.

"What an interesting zanpakutou," Stark said, shaking his hand to rid the blood on it. "Too bad it leaves you defenseless though. You lose your sword, so you are unable to defend yourself."

Byakuya said nothing. His face was a solemn mask, showing no sign of pain or distress.

Stark got ready to attack again when a voice suddenly called out, "Hey, hey now, we weren't finished yet. Don't go getting distracted on me. It's not polite!"

Stark turned to see Kyouraku standing, if somewhat awkwardly, in the air behind him, lifting his battered straw hat to look him in the eye, a cheerful smile on his face.

"Hey, I though you were dead," Stark said, a little surprised.

"Nope, just taking a nap. I'm a procrastinator. But I must have overslept. Yo, Little Byakuya, thanks for taking over for me, but you can go take a nap now."

Byakuya felt a vein pop slightly in his forehead, and he closed his eyes in annoyance. The last person to have called him "Little Byakuya", and lived to tell the tale, was Shihōin Yoruichi.

"I would appreciate it, Kyouraku, if you would refrain from addressing me as such. And also I you didn't interfere in my fight."

"Aww, c'mon!" Kyouraku whined, "You've already probably taken down at least one espada. Let me have him, little Byakuya. Go help Soi Fon with that arrancar that attacked her after Yama-jii wannabe died if you must fight. And I like the name. It's cute, won't you agree, little Byakkun?"

Byakuya gave Kyouraku a cold, deadly glare, then vanished in a quick shunpo.

From his position a few meters away, Ukitake felt smile come upon his lips. He had a strange feeling that even if Kyouraku were to survive the war, he would not live very long after it. It will be rather hard to survive with an angry Byakuya on you tail.

The sudden sound of a swishing blade brought Ukitake out of his trance. He leapt to the side, just in time to avoid being sliced through with a blade. An arrancar grinned at him. "Wow, good reflexes. Still, you're no match for me."

"Arrogance is the often leads to ignorance," Ukitake replied, drawing his zanpakutou.

Ichigo dashed up to Aizen after Ulquiorra and Nel.

"Aizen!" he snarled, glaring at the evil traitor.

"Aah, the young Ryoka. I hear you've been named a substitute shinigami. You've certainly come a long way, seeing as you were able to beat Ulquiorra. Did you like you visit to Las Noches? I hope my men welcomed you well. And I'm sure Orihime-chan loved it there. Oh, and did you miss your chance to say hi to Hitsugaya-kun? I'm terribly sorry." Aizen's voice was dripping with pure sarcasm and his smile one of malice.

"You're going to pay for everything you did to me and my friends!" Ichigo spat venomously. His eye's flickered to Orihime and Toushirou. Uryu was protecting Orihime while she healed others, and Toushirou was still unconscious, surrounded by his fellow shinigami.

Aizen's eyes flickered to the protective barrier in which the wounded were resting. A smile of dark amusement lit his features, and before anyone could stop him, he shunpoed to the barrier and shattered it with a swipe of his zanpakutou.

Momo screamed and Rangiku and Izuru looked up in fear. Komamura stepped in front of them. "You shall not touch them, Aizen!" he growled.

Aizen's smile widened, a chilling dark smile. The next moment, Komamura found himself with a deep gash in his chest. He stumbled in shock and gasped.

"Hmm, how pitiful. So this is the skills of a captain, even after I gave you so much time to improve. Has the Gotei 13 really weakened this much?" Aizen's voice was mocking as he cocked his head at the shinigami. Komamura steadied himself and stood to face Aizen. Izuru and Matsumoto put their hands to their zanpakutous and struggled to their feet, standing behind Komamura, while Momo clutched Toushirou's battered body close to her own tightly, as if getting ready to shield it with herself.

Aizen smirked. "So, you wish to fight? Brave of you. Unfortunately, I have no time to bother with ants such as yourselves."

His smirk widened as his eyes flicked behind him.

"Gin, _kill them."_


	3. Chapter 3 Truth

Hi! I finally finished Exams! I swear I did horrible on the socials exam, but I'll save you from my ranting

I finally finished typing this. It may be bad, because I typed it so late at night, but I'll edit later.

I hope no one complains to the event of this chapter

oh, and thanks to all that reviewed!

* * *

Chapter 3-Truth

"_Gin, _kill them_"_

Matsumoto and Izuru's eyes widened while Momo let out a whimper. Gin raised his head questioningly at Aizen, who gave a nod of confirmation, then he shunpoed behind Aizen. He looked toward the group, a grin on his face, and then began to walk toward the vulnerable group, drawing his zanpakutou as he went. They all tensed.

Ichigo let out a cry of outrage and shunpoed forward.

"Bakudou 73, Tozansho," Aizen said coolly. Ichigo smacked face forward onto a sudden barrier that appeared between him and the others.

"Sorry, Kurosaki, but I cannot allow you to interfere in this," Aizen said calmly.

Gin stopped in front of the group. Everyone looked up at him warily, tensing their bodies for his attack, and wondering what he would do. Matsumoto stared helplessly up into his face.

"Aizen-sama, ya sure of your order?" he asked without turning, his grin not fading.

"Of-course," Aizen replied.

"In that case…" Gin raised his Zanpakutou. There was a collective shudder of fear as the blade sliced through the air. They closed their eyes as they heard the horrible sound of steel ripping into fabric and flesh. They were afraid to look; afraid to see which of their number had fallen. At last, Matsumoto cracked an eye open to peak out tentatively.

And at once, her eyes flew open, wide with shock, and she gasped at the scene that met her eyes. One she'd never expected to see. Her companions opened their eyes at her gasp, and they too stared dumbstruck at the scene.

For there stood Ichimaru Gin, his body still facing the shinigami, but his arm was stuck behind him, his zanpakutou embedded in Aizen's chest.

"…I'm 'fraid I can't obey, Aizen-sama."

"Gin…" Matsumoto breathed in shock.

Aizen frowned slightly at the blade in his chest. He leapt back, allowing the blade to be removed form his body, and looked up at them, unfazed, but also unsmiling.

"Gin, so you decided to betray me as well?" Aizen asked, no trace of humor in his voice.

"I've realized for a while, actually," Gin said, still grinning and looking over his shoulder at Aizen, "that ya can't do everything ya said ya could, that ya won't keep your promise not to hurt Ran-chan. I really only joined you to protect her. And because I thought you sought power to help everyone, not destroy everyone. I stayed, so as to gather information to work against ya with. Of-course, ya don't trust anyone, so it didn't help. I stayed anyways, hoping that maybe you'd change your mind. But when ya told me to kill 'em, I knew that it was over."

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise at his speech All but Aizen.

"How touching, Gin," Aizen said, a smirk dancing on his lips again. "But, now that you've left me, even if _I _don't kill you, Soul Society will, if they survive. What's the point?"

"The point is," Gin said, turning his body to face Aizen completely, "so that ya can't ever hurt Ran-chan again."

Gin raised his zanpakutou again and slashed at Aizen. Aizen easily deflected his attacks, however. Gin was unfazed, still grinning as he slashed at Aizen again and again.

From his position above the fight, and still trapped outside the barrier, Ichigo once again brought his zanpakutou down on the barrier, grunting in effort.

"Let us help, Ichigo!" Nel said, appearing at his side. She opened her mouth and got ready to fire a cero. Ulquiorra raised his hand and did the same. Together, they all shot an attack at Aizen's barrier.

The barrier, which had been weakening due to Aizen's lack of concentration, shattered immediately from the combined attack of Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou and the ceros. The threesome rushed toward the group.

Ichigo landed beside the shinigami. "Hurry up and get out of here!" he yelled, mostly to Momo, who still had Toushirou. "You can't fight him in your conditions right now!"

The girl looked up, fear crossing her face for a moment, but to be quickly replaced by determination. "Right," she said. Picking up the unconscious boy, she ran off as best she could with her wounds and the weight of Toushirou. Matsumoto and Izuru rushed to help, Matsumoto picking up Hyourinmaru. Komamura stayed behind, however.

Byakuya saw the scene from his position many meters away, fighting the arrancar that had attacked Soi Fon. He'd taken over for the second division captain, who had been on the verge of fainting after spending all her energy in her bankai attack. She had been whisked away by her lieutenant (and it really surprised Byakuya that such a large man could move so fast). The arrancar proved to be more trouble than he anticipated, however, as it seemed almost at an espada's level.

"So, you think you can defeat me?" the arrancar said arrogantly.

"Without a doubt," Byakuya replied, turning his attention back to him.

"We'll see," the arrancar leered, grinning widely.

Kurotsuchi and Nemu had taken over fighting the weaker arrancar. Or at least, they claimed to, though Kurotsuchi clearly had other ideas.

"Look Nemu, try catching that one over there. It looks like a perfect specimen for my experiment and research."

"Yes master," Nemu replied.

Uryu, Renji and Rukia were all battling their own arrancar. They seemed evenly matched, but they were just barely managing, as they were still drained and recovering from their fight in Hueco Mundo.

Zaraki meanwhile, was having fun watching Tousen struggle to attack and hurt him. Tousen was looking extremely aggravated. Unohana and Orhime dashed through the various debris and bodies of shinigami and arrancar, both wounded and dead, trying to help the wounded.

Everywhere, fights were raging furiously. Chaos was falling upon the company.

Yet though they were still holding out, it seemed that Soul Society was losing.

* * *

Darkness and cold. That was all he was aware of. Pitch black darkness and icy coldness surrounding him, seeping into his tired body. Silence as well, silence that pressed in on him like a thick blanket.

"Is this what it feels like to die?" he thought.

Suddenly, a cool breeze swept over his body, along with a sudden bright light that pushed against his eyelids. It was then that he realized that his eyes were closed, and that he was lying upon something hard, rough, and cold.

His eyes snapped open and he blinked in surprise at the dreary winter sky that met his eyes. He sat up, aware that though his body ached, he had no wounds to speak of, and took in his surroundings.

He was sitting upon a barren plain of ice. A familiar plain of ice. Another cool ruffled his silver-white locks of hair.

"Toushirou," came a low rumbling. It was one he knew well.

"Hyourinmaru," Toushirou returned, turning to face the magnificent ice dragon who was coiled up a few feet behind him, towering above him, his iridescent scales flashing in the winter light, his ruby red eyes scrutinizing the young boy. Toushirou was used to this, and so it did not bother him. "Am I dead?"

"No, not yet," Hyourinmaru replied. "That depends on your choice."

"I have a choice? What do you mean?" Toushirou asked, stunned.

"It is time to make a decision, and embrace your fate." Hyourinmaru rumbled, stretching up slightly.

"My...fate…?"

"It is time to fully awaken, Hitsugaya Toushirou, as the Heavenly Guardian."

* * *

Zaraki easily dodged another of Tousen's attacks.

"C'mon, is this the best you can do?" he taunted. "And you call yourself a commander of the espada. Even they're more trouble than you."

Tousen hissed in rage and slashed his blade across Zaraki's chest. To his surprise, Zaraki found himself suddenly bleeding from a gash. Then his face broke into a maniacal grin.

"Ha! Now we're talking! So you _can_ actually cause some damage. Now we might actually get somewhere!"

Tousen frowned. He'd used all his strength in the blow, and yet, he was still standing. _His body is as if it's made of iron, _he thought. _I guess I have no choice. I'll have to use it._

He lifted his sword at Zaraki and cried, "Bankai! Suzumushi final form, Enma Kôrogi!"

"Oh please, not this again," Zaraki muttered. Tousen reared back and stabbed the still Zaraki. He quickly drew back, before Zaraki could blink.

"Oh, so you have learned," Zaraki said, smiling his insane grin. "But did you learn enough?"

_He's arrogant, _thought Tousen. _And to underestimate him would be foolish._

Suddenly, he felt a blade stab into his body. "Wha-!" he exclaimed.

"C'mon," Zaraki said, and though he could not see Tousen, he faced him as if he could. "It's elementary knowledge not to stand in one place during a sword fight. Even if I have no idea where you are, the world is only so big, and you can only be so far away. I'll find you."

Tousen's eyebrows were knitted together so tightly that they were like one severe line. In fury, he slashed at Zaraki. His sword sunk into his shoulder, but as soon as it did, Zaraki's free hand reached up and closed around it.

"Aha! I see you now, you sneaky little cricket! And now…" Zaraki's body began to glow as a massive amount of reiatsu rolled off of him in golden waves. "…I'll crush your bankai."

His grip tightened, and suddenly, with a loud cracking sound, the zanpakutou shattered in his had, Tousen's bankai immediately dissolved.

"What! How…you…" Tousen spluttered.

"Now, it's my turn.!" Zaraki shouted, letting out a cackle. His zanpakutou flashed in the sunlight and came speeding through the air.

From his place fighting Aizen, Ichigo paused as he heard the groan of a dying person. He turned to see a dark figure collapsing out of the sky, blood flying from his wounds and his tattered robes and black braided hair fluttering in the speed of his fall. He hit the ground with a sickening thump, while Zaraki just grinned, hoisting his blade over his shoulder.

"So, Tousen's dead,' Aizen said, his voice cold and unfeeling. "It doesn't matter. He was just a _tool._"

Ichigo glared at him. "Is that how you treat your men?" he shouted, "No matter how loyal they were?"

"You still don't see, Kurosaki Ichigo? I trust no one. To trust is a foolish thing. All my men are merely tools in my plan. Sooner or later, all tools must wear out. But the one using the tools need only replace them with more competent ones. They are never something one relies on forever, and definitely not something one get attached to."

"You bastard!" Ichigo snarled, while his newfound allies tensed. Ulquiorra's face showed, for the first time, a crease of anger, while Gin's smile vanished into a comical pout. "Now that's not nice, ne, Aizen?" he said, raising his Zanpakutou higher, while Komamura growled, "you monster!" Perhaps he was upset of how blind Tousen was (no pun intended, or maybe it was intended) of Aizen's true nature, and of the emotionless dismissal he displayed of his death.

"And of course," Aizen said, ignoring their words, "I knew that I'd lose some of my arrancar and espada, so I came prepared."

The sky behind him suddenly ripped open, and the groups eyes widened in horror at the sight. There, just behind the entrance, stood tens of arrancar, some with numbers that clearly stated that they were of the espada class, and hundreds of menos, and behind them, thousands to millions of hollows.

"Don't just stare," Aizen's voice cut into the stunned silence. "Greet them politely, Soul Society. This is the rest of my army."

* * *

"Awaken…as the Heavenly Guardian?" Toushirou asked in shock. "What do you mean, Hyourinmaru?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean, Toushirou," Hyourinmaru rumbled. "Surely you have heard the rumors, the legends. Surely you have felt the power inside of you before now."

"That…those are just rumors though," Toushirou's voice was filled with disbelief, and oddly enough, uneasiness. "It's not as if they're true."

Hyourinmaru scrutinized the young ice-wielder. He knew that the boy was lying to himself about something. He knew he was denying something. Toushirou was very perceptive. He would not be ignorant.

_So he cannot be ignorant of what that one time meant, _Hyourinmaru thought. _That one time that he lost control._

Flashback:

_Toushirou was just strolling angrily down the hall of the tenth division barracks. A dark, cold aura of fury surrounded the captain, signaling that he was _not _to be provoked._

_Toushirou was fuming. Things were not going well at the moment. He could _not _stand to be called a short, immature kid, especially by that idiot of a Ryoka, now a substitute shinigami. And it didn't help that Unohana had just informed him that he could not see Momo because she was in critical condition._

And that's all my fault, _he thought. _Just because I couldn't get there quick enough, she's hurt so badly. Just because I couldn't see Aizen's true self.

_On top of that, Matsumoto was nowhere to be seen. She had run off on him again just when they had a new load of paperwork._

_"Hey, little kid!"_

_He felt a vein pop in his forehead. The dragon within coiled in irritation, and he felt his reiatsu rise, while the temperature dropped. Anger built up in him, struggling to be released, but he harshly tried to suppress it. _

_He turned to see three gruff looking shinigami, bearing down upon him. They put their hands on their zanpakutou. _

New recruits, _he thought, _likely eleventh division.

_He turned to glare coldly at the three shinigami. "Do not address me as such, unless you want to find yourselves at fourth division." He said in cold fury, trying to keep the roaring dragon inside sealed. _

"_What! How rude! You should show more respect for your superiors! Are you even supposed to be a shinigami?"_

_Toushirou realized then that he'd forgotten his haori, in his haste to find Matsumoto. However, that did nothing to soothe his rage._

"_If you have the guts to threaten us, maybe you should fight us and see?"_

"_I have no time to play with idiots like yourselves." Toushirou said, now genuinely struggling. His reiatsu suddenly felt as if it was much larger and stronger than before. The dragon within roared for it's no doubt violent release. _

_He was cut off as the three shinigami laughed loudly and rudely. "Ha! He's still acting too rude! I bet he's all talk! I bet he couldn't even fight off a weak hollow. He should go run and cower in his mother's lap because Aizen's coming-"_

_A sudden explosion cut him off. Ice and water flew everywhere, and dust rose up many feet into the air, causing all of Seireitei to look up in confusion. It was even seen in Rukongai. At the same time, the air suddenly seemed to solidify, freezing and growing so heavy that it forced the three shinigami to their knees, head to the ground as if in humiliation, unable to lift a limb. They could just twist their heads enough to see the still boy, powerful reiatsu rolling off of him in waves, glowing a bright blue. His eyes as well, had been taken over by a bright blue glow. Nearby buildings crumbled, and ice crept everywhere. The sky darkened and a thick blizzard fell upon them. A cold so chilling it was like all the frigidness of many winters combined had descended upon them, seeping into the whole area, spreading throughout Seireitei. Fierce wind picked up, and the whole area shook. The whole of Seireitei shook, the air thick and freezing with the massive reiatsu, forcing many to their knees._

"_Hitsugaya-taichou!" came a cry. Suddenly, battling through the thick air and snow was Ukitake Jushirou and Kuchiki Byakuya, having just come from visiting Rukia. They had their arms over their faces, looking in horror at the young captain. His reiatsu was still rising. His reiatsu flared off of him in thick loops, forming into water and ice. The destruction continued. _

_Byakuya reached the ice master, and promptly shook him. "Hitsugaya-taichou, snap out of it." He ordered coldly, despite the immediate numbing of his fingers and ice that crept up his limbs as soon as he reached into the concentrated reiatsu._

_The young boy let out a gasp, the wild reiatsu calmed. His eyes lost their glow and widened in horror. He had snapped for a moment, and lost control of the boiling anger inside him, and let a little of his reiatsu slip. His body felt shaky and strange. He shuddered, and surveyed the damage he'd caused. He looked at the demolished buildings, the ice and frost that coated everything in the area, and mostly at the now unconscious shinigami, a layer of snow and ice coating their bodies. He saw that some shinigami a distance away, innocent bystanders, had also become victim of this. Byakuya and Ukitake both sported frost and ice that coated their bodies thinly. _

"_They need immediate medical treatment," Ukitake said, "They have serious frostbite and Hypothermia."_

_Toushirou backed away, still looking horrified. He turned and dashed back to the tenth, his body still shuddering in horror. _

What did I do?

**Toushirou, **_he heard Hyourinmaru call out, but he ignored the dragon's voice, too lost in his own thought._

If Kuchiki-taichou had not stopped me, I might have…

_The thought haunted him for many weeks to come._

End Flashback

Hyourinmaru knew that the boy was thinking of that time. The eleventh division members survived, but took a long time to recover. After that, they certainly knew not the mess with the tenth division captain. After that, Toushirou always kept his reiatsu tightly, and furiously in check.

And the rumors started. Hyourinmaru knew that Toushirou had been unable to ignore them.

_He knows that he has this power. He knows about the legends, and the rumors. He knows they are true, but he denies it furiously._

"Why do you deny it, Toushirou?" Hyourinmaru asked in his deep voice that shook the surroundings.

"I don't-," Toushirou broke off, frowning.

"If you don't, then why are you not taking the chance?" Hyourinmaru cocked his head at to the side, coiling his body more tightly.

"I just can't do it. I've failed. I couldn't defeat Aizen. I'm just not strong enough."

"So you're going to choose death?" Hyourinmaru growled. "You know you are on the verge of it. If you don't accept your power, then you _will _die!"

"What's the point!" Toushirou yelled. "I can go back, but I already failed. Aizen's much more powerful than me. I can only fail again, or I'll make things even worse. What's the point of going back to only more pain and failure? Even after training for so long, and gaining all those new techniques-"

"The fight's not over yet!" Hyourinmaru cut him off, his voice so loud that Toushirou could feel the deep rumbling deep in his chest. "Your new techniques, though much more powerful than the original, are only the wisps of power leaking from the core. The release of your true power will be many more times more powerful than all your strength right now. It will be the only thing that can give you, and everyone else, hope to defeat Aizen."

"But it's dangerous," Toushirou said, "You said so yourself!"

He remembered Hyourinmaru's words, the ones that he spoke after that time when he had lost control. The words he's tried so hard to ignore

_Toushirou, listen to me. Inside you resides a power so great that it could easily destroy the whole of Soul Society. You must learn to control it. Decide what to use it for. If you cannot, then everyone, everything can, no, _will _be destroyed._

"I can go back and face Aizen," he shouted, "but I don't even know how to control my power. I won't be able to defeat Aizen like that. He's too skilled, and I might just cause everyone else more trouble. I might just cause more damage! Aizen's just too powerful!"

"Are you afraid then?" Hyourinmaru's voice resonated throughout the entire plain of ice, filling the entire space. "Are you afraid of Aizen?"

"No!" Toushirou's voice was angry and offended.

"Then, what is this terrible fear I sense inside of you? It's not of the enemy. No, I have never known you to fear the enemy, no matter how strong they are. Is it of failure? Are you that afraid to fail that you won't even try to succeed?"

"No I-"

"Don't. You only fail when you run from this. This is everyone's only hope. _You're _their only hope. If you refuse, then you will truly have failed them, for they will have no hope left for even survival. Besides, if you died, think of the pain everyone else would feel. Do you truly wan to put them through that? You cannot push the responsibility to another. You cannot run. _I _will not let you run. You can try, but you'll never escape your destiny. So instead of having me chase you, why don't you stand up and face it like a man?"

Toushirou looked at the dragon. Then he dropped his head.

"I just…I just can't take the risk."

"The risk?" Hyourinmaru asked skeptically. "What's the risk?"

"I can't risk anything like that happening again! I don't want to destroy everything, and cause so much damage! I don't want to fail them, but I don't want to hurt them. Who will die just because I make some small mistake, let something small slip? I don't know if I'll be able to control my power. I'm tired, so damn tired of hurting the people around me!'

Hyourinmaru was silent as Toushirou put his head in his hands, his fingers tightening around his locks of silver hair.

"I don't want to cause them more trouble. I don't want to hurt them."

There was silence, and another breeze blew by, frigid and strong. Then Hyourinmaru spoke again, in a soft voice.

"I see, "he said. "It is not Aizen you fear, or failure."

"What-"

"No. This terrible and undeniable fear you harbor inside of you, is of yourself."

* * *

And there's the third chapter. this was a bit rushed, but I wanted to get it over with. I'm sorry for all Tousen fans, but I don't like him.

Also, when Zaraki called him a cricket, it was a pun on his zanpakutou, which means cricket.

Other charcters show up in the next chapter! I hope you like it. I'll try revising this one when it isn't twelve at night.


	4. Chapter 4 Decision

Argh! Stupid Piano exam! I bet I failed that one (*knock on wood*). The songs were...okay. the scales sucked, And I'm lucky to get 1/3 on the intervals.

Longest chapter ever.

* * *

Chapter 4 Decision

"No…no way!"

The wounded lieutenants gasped in fear and shock at Aizen's army. They were inside another shield, far from the fight.

"At this rate, we have no chance of survival!" Izuru's voice shook slightly.

Momo looked down at her childhood friend. Tears welled up in her eyes at the sight of his wounds and bloody clothes. She was kneeling, Toushirou's body in her lap, cradling his head with her arms.

_Hitsugaya-kun can't fight anymore, _she thought. _And all the other captains are occupied. That only leaves the orange-haired shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo I think, Ichimaru, who I'm not sure is really on our side, and those other two who seem to be ex-espada, who I'm also not sure about. There's no way we can win. _

Her heart pounded in her ribs, and she instinctively clutched Toushirou tight, holding him closer.

"We must help," Matsumoto suddenly said. Her companions looked at her incredulously, but she continued. "It may seem like a losing battle, which I seriously think it is at this moment, but I'd rather die knowing I'd tried my best to take Aizen down, than to be picked off by them while hiding because we didn't try. Besides, we might make some dents in Aizen's plans. It's not over yet, so I'll keep fighting until I'm brought down!"

Her friends looked at her, stunned for a moment. Then a glint of determination lit up in their eyes.

"You're right, Rangiku-san, we must try," Momo said, while Izuru nodded in agreement.

Matsumoto smiled. She had their support. "Good. Now, even if it feels like suicide already, and plans are pointless, we must still think of strategies to fight. Kira, you and I will go and take care of the weaker arrancar and the hollows, and get them out of the way. We not strong enough for the powerful ones, but we can at least give the others more room to take care of them."

Izuru nodded to show understanding.

"And what about me, Rangiku-san?" Momo asked.

"Momo-chan…I think it best if you stay here and take care of taichou," Matsumoto said, "I know you want to fight, but you're hurt too badly. We'll put up a kyoumon. I think we can manage that," she added, looking at Izuru, who nodded. "Please…just be there for taichou should he…just be there for him, okay?"

Matsumoto's voice cracked with grief. Momo knew she was too was afraid and saddened by Toushirou's state. It seemed as if every breath the captain managed to suck in would be his last. Matsumoto was trying hard to say, 'please, if he is to die, don't let him be alone'

"Yes, I will," Momo murmured. Matsumoto nodded her thanks and standing up with Izuru, they burst out of the barrier they were in. As soon as they did, they turned and put up the kyoumon around Momo and Toushirou.

"Be careful," Momo said, for lack of a better phrase to say. It could be the last time she ever spoke to them. The thought made her heart clench.

"We will be," Izuru said, smiling weakly at her before vanishing in a shunpo along with Matsumoto.

* * *

Byakuya frowned at Aizen's army. The huge, muscular arrancar chuckled.

"You look troubled, young man," he said, his voice mocking. "Did you honestly think that Aizen was this unprepared? Unfortunately, you can't go help them, not if I can help it."

Byakuya's eyes flickered to the arrancar. "Then, I'll just have to kill you," he stated calmly.

The arrancar laughed again. "You think it's so easy? Did you know that I used to be an espada? But then Aizen-sama decided that I was too merciful, and not vicious enough. So I fell from grace. But that has only served to promote my viciousness. You are just an ant to me, easily crushed. But since you are a captain, as you have overflowing reiatsu, and are probably used to more respect, I'll honor you with the release of my zanpakutou."

The arrancar/ex-espada lazily reached for his zanpakutou. (Note: at this time I really have no idea what the command could be, so I'm going to leave it out for now)

Kyouraku and Stark paused in their fight when they felt the sudden burst of reiatsu.

"Hey, I thought that you guys were the only espada, excluding those new ones," Kyouraku said.

"We are. That's just a disgraced espada. Stupid idiot, he's going to make us look bad. He's still so arrogant, waiting this long to actually fight after insisting on coming. I'm surprised he actually released his zanpakutou."

Byakuya's eyes widened slightly at his release. He had seen many releases, but he'd never seen one so…interesting. The ex-espada was surrounded by many long tentacle-like structures, some ending in a frightening sharp point, while others ending in a claw, making him look like some sort of a mutated cross between a lobster, crab, and an octopus. The pointed tentacles were also excreting some sort of foul-smelling viscous green liquid. They were all connected to the arrancar, whose body was now coated in a sort of exoskeleton.

Byakuya didn't seem at all fazed by the fearsome monster that the arrancar had become. He only noted how his reiatsu had suddenly peaked, rising into espada level.

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a flash of color and leapt away in a swift shunpo just as a sharp tentacle pierced the air in which he had occupied moments before.

Another tentacle shot toward him, followed by several others, each zooming through the air so fast that they almost eluded sight, becoming only a blur. Byakuya dodged them as best as he could, but there were just too many.

Just as he dodged another, a tentacle shot out unexpectedly, immediately winding around his legs. The next moment, with a jerk, he was thrown upwards, just as a pointed tentacle appeared, aiming for his heart.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes and twisted his body upwards, barely avoiding having the thing pierce his heart, instead having it impale him in the stomach instead. He let not one small cry of pain escape his pursed lips, or any expression other than cold indifference show on his face. Lifting Senbonzakura, he slashed the tentacles that held him. The fell loose, the cut off bits disintegrating. However, their counterparts merely re-grew the lost bits. Byakuya landed in the air, facing the arrancar, blood dripping from his wound.

"Hmm, you truly are a captain," the arrancar said, surveying Byakuya with interests, his eyes taking in the deep wound from which blood was flowing like a small river, and the cold indifferent expression on Byakuya's face, showing no sign of pain or distress. "Even when there is no hope left, you show no despair. After all, each time I pierce you, I suck out some of your power as well as inject you with a poison that eats away at your strength." He waved a pointed tentacle, dripping with the green liquid, to show his point.

His tentacles shot toward Byakuya again, coming in upon his in waves, like the stormy waves of an ocean, only made of tentacles and sharp points, moving at speeds almost relative to a shunpo's.

Byakuya shunpoed away to dodge them, avoiding them without much trouble, but it was obvious that he could not do so for much longer. His wounds throbbed and his breath came a little heavier, his body weakening with every second that went by. His strength was dissipating, the effects of the poison taking effect. But he stubbornly refused to give up, his head still held up proudly.

_What I need, is _time.

He paused for a split second, and in that second, he found himself suddenly surrounded by a ring of sharp tentacles and claws. They paused for a fraction of a second, then suddenly all shot toward him at the same time.

A smirk danced upon Byakuya's lips. This sudden turn of events gave him all the time he needed.

They tentacles were just about to pierce the captain. The arrancar smirked, pleased with his victory.

Or so he thought.

Just as they were about to hit, they suddenly crashed into a tall wall of glowing pink blades, surrounded by pink reiatsu. Their pointed were crushed and destroyed upon contact. The wall stretched high above, encircling the figure that had summoned it.

"Wha-!" The arrancar's smirk was wiped off his face. He was stunned. This was something he truly didn't expect.

"Bankai," the voice of Byakuya carried through to the arrancar's ears. "Senkei…Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

"How...how did you manage to block my attack?" the arrancar demanded. "Even with your bankai, I had sucked out much of your power already, and my poison should have weakened you tremendously! This-"

"This is the difference between you and me," Byakuya sated coolly. "While you are powerful, you have only one zanpakutou release, though I do commend you on its power. It was as powerful as an ordinary captain's bankai. Even I could barely stand up to it. However…" Byakua reached to the side and closed his fingers around one of the multitude of glowing blades, which immediately transformed into his zanpakutou's sealed form, "I am no ordinary captain. I am one of the most powerful captain's in the entire Gotei thirteen, and as well as the most powerful shinigami of the Kuchiki house. I have trained hard over the years, and developed many new techniques, as well as dramatically raise my level of power. Even if you suck out my power on the outside, I am able to seal much of my power inside, which can only be released by my command or the release of Senbonzakura's true form."

Byakuya pointed his blade at the arrancar, and waves of pure white reiatsu began to manifest around him, surrounding him with delicate waves of glowing white energy, mingling with the pale pink of his zanpakutou.

"Be honored," Byakuya said, narrowing his eyes. "You will be the first to feel the wrath of my new level bankai."

The arrancar's shock subsided, to be replaced with a sneer. "How arrogant. You think that a mere raised level of power will stop me? I have hundreds of arms, each of them able to regenerate as soon as you cut them. You will never be able to hack them off in time with that blade."

"And that is where your ignorance has sentenced you to death," Byakuya replied. "You know nothing of my bankai, yet you have already revealed to me your abilities." He raised his sword. His reiatsu flared, and suddenly, the air began to shake. The glow of the hundreds of swords intensified, and sudden, crushing reiatsu burst from Byakuya. The blades shuddered, and suddenly multiplied, forming a column larger and denser than before. The column of swords broke apart, the swords all flew off, zooming through the air so fast they were like a pink blur, trailing pink reiatsu that looked like wings. The blade in Byakuya's hand glowed to, and began to shed scraps of highly concentrated reishi that resembled sakura petals. The petals joined the blades as they encircled the arrancar, dancing around him in a vibrant display.

"What!" the arrancar's eyes widened in shock, and for the first time, in terror.

"You have hundreds of arms. It is true that I cannot cut you with only one blade, but that is easily done with these hundreds of blades. They are impossible to dodge, and can move at speeds which makes them impossible to see."

At his mental command, the blades struck. They shot through the air, indeed moving so fast that though they were a vibrant pink, they eluded sight. Blood sprayed into the air as the tentacles on the arrancar's body were all hacked off at once. They blades didn't stop there though. No, they plunged themselves right into the arrancar's body itself, piercing his tough exoskeleton with ease. His body was hacked to pieces by large and small blades alike. "No way!" he hissed.

A wave of sudden strong spiritual pressure descended upon him. He looked up to see Byakuya. He was shunpoing so fast that it was impossible to move to dodge. His body's weaknesses seemed to have vanished, and his whole body was surrounded by a bright, powerful reiatsu.

Byakuya's lips parted as he spoke the last words that the arrancar/ex-espada would ever hear in this life. "Shûkei…Hakuteiken."

Reiatsu concentrated at Byakuya's back, forming into two pure white wings, unfurling behind him with grace. A halo also formed behind him. As well, all of his previous blades now converged into the blade in his hand. The blade glowed white, trailing excess reishi that looked like white wings. The potent sword pierced easily into the arrancar's chest, slashing upwards to his head, shattering his skull and the remains of his mask. He screamed, a loud and surprisingly high-pitched scream than someone you'd expect of his size. His body stood rigid for a second, then immediately disintegrated from the intense power of Senbonzakura, more powerful now than ever before.

Indeed, it appeared to be something beyond anything that had ever been seen before. It seemed that truly, Kuchiki Byakuya had become the most powerful shinigami ever in the Kuchiki house.

The other battlers all felt the power that radiated from Byakuya and turned toward it for a split second.

"Wha- what was that?" Rukia breathed in shock while Renji's eyes widened at his captain's fantastic display of power. He had no idea that his captain had such strength.

Byakuya stared at the place where his opponent had vanished. He gathered the remains of his released reiatsu, causing the glow to die off.

_You have mastered these new skills well_, his zanpakutou spoke up, _but you have used up much of your energy._

Byakuya knew that Senbonzakura spoke the truth. As his bankai dissolved, he felt all the weariness and pain that had been numbed by his reiatsu release come crashing upon him once again with overwhelming force. It was all he could do to remain standing.

He cursed silently in his find, something that he'd never let anyone know about. The arrancar had sucked out more power and energy than he'd anticipated. And the poison was still in his system, making him weaker still. _I do not know how long I can continue to fight. _Still, he would not stop fighting. Not now, when the enemy was so close.

His breath came in heavy gasps, and sweat slid down his face, but he stood his ground, ignoring the throbbing and bleeding of his wounds, as well as the disarray of his clothing and hair. His eyes flickered to where Aizen stood with Ichigo and the others, narrowing slightly.

Then they flickered to the safe spot where Toushirou was sheltered with Momo. The young captain's face was pale as a sheet, and he was gasping as if in severe pain. He'd never looked in worse condition than now.

_Are you still fighting, Hitsugaya Toushirou? _He thought. _Do you know that you are our only hope?_

Byakuya had thoroughly read the past shinigami records as a youth. After all, being a part of a noble family, particularly the Kuchiki family, he had access to many of these. As well, he had been there that one time that the boy had unleashed a fraction of his power. He had felt its wrath. And he had seen the young captain's power and his rapid increase in strength. There was no doubt in his mind as to what he was.

But there was one thing he wanted to know of the young captain.

_Are you afraid? Are you afraid of this power, of _yourself_?

* * *

_

"Afraid? Afraid…of myself? What do you mean by that, Hyourinmaru?" Toushirou snapped angrily, while his heart, for whatever reason, began to quicken and pound intensely.

"I mean that you're afraid of yourself, or rather, you're afraid of your own power. You're afraid that you won't be able to master it and hurt the ones you care about, am I correct? The power of the Heavenly Guardian is strong and destructive, and very difficult to contain or control. You're afraid that you won't be able to control it, and that instead of helping them, you will destroy them. You fear to lose them that way. You fear to lose me, your subordinates, your equals, your friends, and mostly, you fear to lose _her_, to hurt her."

Toushirou was speechless. How had the dragon known? All those fears were fears that he'd buried deep inside his heart, in a dark part of his soul that he'd thought impenetrable. But it seemed that Hyourinmaru _had _penetrated it, for the dragon did not stop there.

"You don't want the power, as much as you know you need it to protect them, because you're afraid that you'll hurt them and destroy everything. You do not want that, am I right, Toushirou?"

There was a silence, in which Toushirou clenched his fists, his nails piercing into the palm of his hand. His fist shook slightly. Then…

"YES!" Toushirou shouted heatedly. "Yes, you're right! I _am _afraid. I don't want to hurt them! I don't know if I'll be able to control my power and not hurt them! I need to protect them!"

"Well, you are not doing a good job of that right now," Hyourinmaru replied in his deep rumble. "While you are here, denying yourself, others outside, the very ones you wanted to protect, are dying. If you want to save them, then take this chance! Take this power and the risk that comes along with it. It is the only way that you can protect what is closest to your heart. What we _both _hold dear. Leave it all, and who will protect them?"

"But I don't know how-"

"Then learn! Learn to control it. Become stronger! Strong enough to defeat all obstacles that come your way. Why do you run away from this? You fear that you'll fail, but you must accept you fear and conquer it. How else would you succeed? When you decided to master bankai and achieved it, I thought you had decided not to run from your destiny anymore. Where did that you go? Where is the Hitsugaya Toushirou that doesn't slink away and cower when injured or defeated, but stands tall and proud, ready to face the challenge again? Where is the one who cries in defiance at the face of adversity? Where is the one who is the last and true reincarnation of the Heavenly Guardian?"

"And how would you know?" Toushirou demanded, not liking being yelled down upon, least of all by Hyourinmaru.

"How do I know?" Hyourinmaru thundered. "You ask how I know? I flew with the Guardian! She was my master, and my counterpart! She gave me life and power, and the wings to fly, as you have been able to do as well. I know, Hitsugaya Toushirou. I know without a doubt that you are the reincarnation, the one to inherit the Guardian's power, and grow beyond it. A dragon always knows these things. Yet, with the way you're acting, even I am beginning to doubt myself. My master, past and present, never slunk away in fear. My master always flew high, no matter what tried to bring him down. My master always sought the power, not to dominate, but to protect. Tell me, Toushirou, are you my master? Are you the one who has all these qualities?"

"I-" Toushirou began, but Hyourinmaru cut him off.

"If you are, then claim it! Claim this power, and then you will truly be yourself. Claim it, and we will meet on new grounds, and share a bond never shared my any master with their zanpakutou, for I am not an ordinary zanpakutou as you are not a normal shinigami. I will be more a part of your soul than ever before, because we were once one and the same. In our past lives, born from the same water and ice and reishi that first graced the surface of this world. You fear to lose, but you have only something to gain. Claim it, and you can protect everyone. We will be able to fight together anything that threatens you and everyone else."

Toushirou was lost for words as the ringing of Hyourinmaru's thundering words echoed across the endless plain of ice, and deep within his own body.

"I…I don't know," he said in a barely audible voice at last. "Can I do it? Will I be able to live up to your, and everyone else's, expectations? And especially my own? Will I be able to master it?"

"You must stop doubting yourself," Hyourinmaru said in a much softer and gentler voice than the terrible rumbling in which he had spoke before. " You must stop fearing. Take the risk. How will you know if you never try?"

Toushirou still looked doubtful. Hyourinmaru nudges his enormous head gently against the boy's shoulder.

"Take the chance. I believe that you will be able to overcome all the challenges. This is the only way to protect those that you love. It is time to stop lying to yourself about what you are, and to embrace your destiny, for it is something that no one can run from. You can never deny what you truly are. Claim your destiny, and fly on your own wings. Only then can you truly be yourself. Only then can you achieve what you desire."

Toushirou did not reply. He stood, silent and still, not looking at anything in particular. A cool breeze blew across the icy plain, ruffling his hair gently. For a while, neither dragon nor boy uttered a word. The young captain was lost in thought.

He pondered the dragon's words. He thought of the reasons he had to become a shinigami in the first place. There were many of them. To master his leaking reiatsu, to become strong enough to protect others…but in the end, it was mostly because of one thing. Need. The need to discover what that echoing voice was, and what it wanted. The need to master himself. The need to learn about himself, and Hyourinmaru. He had sought the power only to protect others, whether it was from hollows, or from himself. He sought to go so far in training and along the path of a shinigami only out of necessity. He had to gain control over his own wild power. Even achieving bankai at such a young age. It was because he had to. The dragon would not be satisfied with merely shikai, and he had to learn complete control over the dragon and force him to submit to him. The only way had been through bankai. Yes, he did immensely enjoy the training, and discovering what he could do, what Hyourinmaru could do, but in the end, it was all simply _necessity. _

He thought of what Hyourinmaru had just told him. The power of the Heavenly Guardian was the only way he would be able to protect anyone. Not just that, but it was a part of him that he cannot reject. But he was unsure that he would be able to control it. _All I want in to protect them, and save them from any possible harm. But is this really the way to do this? Is walking away so I can't hurt them really going to save them?_

"_I will not run away anymore," _he had said when he decided to master bankai. Hadn't he promised himself that a long time ago? Hadn't he promise to do anything to protect Soul Society, to protect Momo?

"**_This power…it is the only thing that can give you, and everyone else, hope to defeat Aizen."_**

He held the key to victory. _But am I selfish enough, _ignorant _enough to throw it away? I can end this, but I'm walking way from it. What am I doing?_

"**_Fly on your own wings. Only then can you truly be yourself!"_**

Isn't that what he'd always wanted, to be himself without restraint? To fly on his own?

_"**Become strong…"**_

_That's what I've always wanted, to become strong, strong enough to protect everyone. _

_I made a promise. A promise not to run anymore, not to rest until Aizen was defeated and balance was restored. I can't break that promise now, when I am closer to fulfilling it than ever before. _

_Hyourinmaru is right. I can't run. So…_

Hyourinmaru felt Toushirou stir. He saw him shift his footing slightly. He knew from the sudden change in the air that the young ice-master had made a decision.

Toushirou raised his head, looking Hyourinmaru directly in the eyes, his own glowing with determination, and reminding Hyourinmaru irresistibly of the Guardian's eyes. They were the same precise shape and color, shining with wisdom and power. For a second, it was as if the Heavenly Guardian herself had returned, and was looking with unwavering determination at the ancient ice dragon.

Which was why Hyourinmaru was not at all surprised at Toushirou's next words.

"Yes, you're right Hyourinmaru. It is time to claim my destiny. I will not run anymore, but I will stand fast and accept my fate. I understand everything now. I will take the risk and fight with my all. I owe that to everyone. To Hinamori, to Matsumoto, Ukitake-taichou, Kuchiki-taichou, everyone in Soul Society, but mostly, to us, to you and me. I have held us down for far too long, but I think it's time I stoop. I think it _is _time to _fly_."

Hyourinmaru let out a low rumble deep within his chest, which might have been a growl of happiness. His mouth and eyes crinkled into what may pass for a smile, if dragons smiled. His eyes glowed, and he nodded at his decision.

"Good. Now, we may truly begin. However, to actually release your power isn't as easily said as done."

Toushirou didn't seem fazed. He didn't even look remotely surprised. Somehow, he had been expecting this.

"You must be truly ready, truly accept it. Or else, it will surely kill you. You must prove your worth, to me, and to yourself."

Toushirou frowned slightly and gritted his teeth.

"I knew that it wouldn't be so easy," he said, his voice without a tremor. "But I've made my decision, and I'm not going to back away from it. I'll fight anything in the way, for everyone out there, and for me and you."

He stared steadily at the great ice dragon. "I promised not to run, and I intend to keep my word. I am ready. Just tell me what to do."

Hyourinmaru looked down at his young master, a flash of worry crossing his heart for a moment for his well being. _He has come a long way, and matured much. He is no longer a child._

"Very well."

* * *

I think that I got carried away in this chapter. I'm sorry if it was overly long, but I really wanted to put this all into one chapter. the next one's probably going to be short.

I'm sorry if I made any mistakes. I hope I got everything as accurate as possible. If things were a little different (for instance Byakuya's Bankai) then it was because they supposedly had new techniques now.

By the way, the arrancar that Byakuya fought was originally the 2nd espada, but after I wrote it I saw his release, so I changed it so I didn't have to rewrite the whole thing. You can think of the arrancar as previously being the 2nd espada before falling from grace (though I think he's too weak)

And I'm not sure how Toushirou would address the two captains. I imagine Kuchiki-taichou for Byakuya s he is a noble, and calling him just Kuchiki would be as if he was referring to Rukia. Then I decided that it would look weird with just taichou for Byakuya, so I added one for Ukitake as well. In my story I suppose you can say they are the captains closest to him.

I also probably won't be going into details of everyone's fight. that would take forever...so sorry.


	5. Chapter 5 The Fight Commences

Okay, I apologize, but I'm not really going to go into that much detail about all the fighting. I suck at writing action.

Anyways, here's the new chapter. I will also apologize with the fact that I'm probably not going to go into much detail with the specific fights as I really don't know everyone's abilities. But there will be action.

and on with the chapter. I hope you like it. It's a bit longer than the last one.

* * *

Chapter 5 The Fight Commences

Ichigo and his companions gritted their teeth as they faced Aizen's army.

_Damn_, Ichigo thought, _most of my strength is used up already. How are we supposed to defeat them?_

"Are you wondering how to defeat them?" Aizen's voice cut across his thoughts. He smirked like a snake that was about to devour an immobilized mouse, and is enjoying watching it struggle futilely to escape. Ichigo glared at the man. "Well, I'll save you the trouble of wondering. You _can't _defeat them. It is impossible. It would serve you better to just give up now."

"Yeah right, like hell we will!" Ichigo snarled. Gin on the other hand, grinned and said, "So, this is what ya 'ave bin doin', holed up in that room. Feels like ya'ave brought the whole of Hueco Mundo here, ne?"

"Almost. I left the weaklings behind. They would just serve as a hindrance." Aizen replied.

"Oh how sad. They'll all miss the fun!" Gin said, shrugging his shoulders.

Ichigo looked at the odd ex-captain. He wasn't sure what to make of the man, and whether he could trust the constantly grinning captain, yet somehow, he was beginning to.

"Ichimaru," Ulquiorra's voice cut through Ichigo's train of thought. "You seem quite calm about this. Do you have a plan?"

Gin's smile didn't waver. He just merely turned to look at them, saying quietly, "All we gotta do is finish of the new espada first. There's only about 9 of 'em."

Ichigo's eye twitched. "Only?" he snapped, giving the man a withering look.

"Well, that's one less than before! Besides, all ya gotta do is attack 'em before they 'ave a chance to release their zanpakutous. Don't stand there wasting time and give 'em the chance to. That was all your previous mistakes. If they do release their zanpakutou, then stay outta the way and analyze its attacks, then attack. It doesn't matter how strong they are, it's all about careful thinkin' and strategy. It's all in tha brain."

"Then Ichigo's sure in trouble," came the sudden voice of Abarai Renji as he suddenly appeared at their side. "I dunno if he even has a brain."

A vein pulsed in Ichigo's forehead. "Why you…I outta strangle you and hang you up by your stupid red pineapple top!" He yelled heatedly, grabbing Renji by his collar.

"Oh yeah? Well at least _I _don't have an orange for a head. And at least _I _have a cool hairstyle." Renji shot back, grabbing Ichigo's collar. The two had their foreheads pressed together, each glaring venomously at each other.

"Yeah right. You keep telling yourself that, but you know that your hair is just lame! And at least _I _don't have to resort to wearing chappy shirts when I am in the human world!"

"Well we're in the human world right now, and look! I'm not wearing a chappy shirt!"

"Well, this doesn't count!"

"Shut up both of you! This isn't the time for petty arguments!" the annoyed voice of Kuchiki Rukia diverted their attentions away from thinking of a good excuse to rip each other's throats out. Gin looked on with amusement, Nel with bewilderment at their childish behavior. Ulquiorra closed his eyes and sighed and their immaturity.

"Exactly, the young lady stands correct," came another voice, male this time.

Ichigo and the others turned to stare in shock at on straw-blond man and his rather queer companions that had suddenly appeared.

"Shinji?!" Ichigo yelled in shock while Gin, for the first time since Ichigo ever laid eyes on him opening his eyes and the smile sliding off his face, said, "Hirako-taichou?"

"Hello Ichimaru, finally opened your eyes to see what's really around you I see," Shinji replied, grinning.

Gin grinned back, and squinted his eyes back to their slits again. "Actually, I did open 'em once a long time ago, and many times since. Ya know, I once did while fightin' Hitsugaya-taichou…but then again, ya probably don't know who he is…"

Somehow, Ichigo got the feeling that there was a double meaning behind the two men's words, but decided that there were more pressing matters that he wanted to ask about. Or perhaps yell his head off about.

"What the-, Shinji!? And Hiyori, and Lisa, Love, Rose, Mashiro, Kensei, and Hachi too! How does Shinji and Ichimaru know each other? _Hirako-taichou_? What the hell is up with that? And what the hell are you all doing here?"

"Oh my, the poor kid's lost his cool again," Gin said.

"What's wrong, Ichigo? You don't want us here?" Shinji asked.

"Well, if you're going to help-"

"Who said anything about helping? We're just here to watch the show!" Shinji said, pulling out a box of popcorn seemingly from out of nowhere.

Ichigo twitched and felt his temper rise up dangerously. "Well if you're not going to help, then get out of here!"

"Why, are we distracting?"

"Just shut up!"

There was a sudden flying blur of color and the next moment, Ichigo found himself nailed in the face by a shoe. Hiyori's shoe.

"Shut up yourself, orange-top. It's obvious we're here to help. Why else would we bring our zanpakutous? Besides, we have some favors to return to Aizen." She turned her gaze toward the self-proclaimed lord of all the worlds. "He's the one who got us messed up as vaizards in the first place."

"What?" Ichigo asked, his anger temporarily forgotten.

"What, didn't you hear me, or do you have as much trouble with hearing as you have with average brain functions?" Hiyori smirked.

Ichigo's anger shot straight back up and would have certainly smashed any sort of angermeter if there had been such a thing.

"Why you…if you weren't a girl I would have-"

"Would have what, huh? I dare you to say it!" Hiyori taunted.

"You know what, you really-"

"Enough!" Rukia snapped again, hitting Ichigo on the back of his head, and ignoring his protest. "So, you're the captains and lieutenants that vanished 110 years ago," she addressed the vaizards.

"That's right, and now we're vaizards. Shinigami with hollow powers, like berry-tan!" a young woman with green hair piped up. "We have a sort of hideout in the human world where no one can find us, and that's where we live now! It's quite fun living there."

"I see, so that's where Ichigo disappeared off to train that time." Rukia stated.

"That's right, and he was a pain in the butt," Hiyori promptly replied, earning her a glare from Ichigo, though he kept his mouth shut this time, really not wanting to be abused by girls any further.

"Anyhow," Shinji spoke up, now crunching on his popcorn, which Hiyori immediately stole a handful of, "we'll help take care of the arrancar. You go get Aizen."

He turned to look at Aizen, who had remained surprisingly silent and ambiguous during all this, his expression serious.

Aizen smirked at the blond man. "Hello, Hirako-_taichou_. So, you didn't die that day. I do regret that having that happen to my captain."

"Ichigo gasped. "His…you…Shinji, you're the FRICKIN' CAPTAIN of FIFTH DIVISION!!!???" He yelled in shock.

"Nope. Sadly, I'm the ex-captain, if you didn't hear what the young lady," he pointed at Rukia, "said when she addressed us. And this _lovely _young man here," he said, now gesturing at Aizen, "was my lieutenant, who somehow had the _brilliant _idea to meddle with hollowfication and get us all caught up in it." He gestured at the vaizards.

"And unfortunately, Soul Society framed me for it, and we were all banished. Of-course, no hard feelings. I do rather enjoy life in the human world, and I still get contact with Soul Society, now that they know it wasn't me." The singsong voice came from behind them. They all turned, and there, stepping smoothly out of his shunpo, fixing his green striped hat, and accompanied by a lithe, dark-skinned woman, was none other than Urahara Kisuke, accompanied by Shihōin Yoruichi.

"Urahara!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Yoruichi-san! What're you-"

"Hello, Kurosaki-san! You really didn't expect us to miss all the fun, did you? Sorry we're late though."

"Psh, like punctuality really matters right now. We in the middle of a battle, and could all very likely get killed." Shinji muttered, drawing his zanpakutou, while throwing his now empty box of popcorn over his shoulder and drawing his zanpakutou.

Aizen didn't look at all fazed by the new arrivals. On the contrary, he looked rather amused. "So, you think you can win? What a foolish assumption. Come, my arrancar, do with them as you please."

The group readied themselves. Further off, all the shinigami present that wasn't yet wounded too badly, or already engaged in battle, also got ready.

"So, anyone got dibs on which one they want?" Hiyori asked casually.

"I will take the new fourth espada," Ulquiorra, who had been completely silent during the vaizard's arrival, now spoke up.

"And I'll take the third!" Nel piped up happily, as though she were doing nothing more than a game of hide and seek.

The new arrancar gave them oddly blank looks. The espada had bored expressions on their faces. Ichigo smirked as he tried to suppress thoughts of them being Ulquiorra's incarnations.

"Hmp, try as you wish," Aizen shrugged. "These new arrancar are unlike the others. They are devoid of almost all emotion. Their only feeling is the need to kill. The espada do have some emotions, but don't count on them to be merciful. Their main feeling is just bloodlust."

"That's good then we won't feel bad when we kill them," Shinji said, getting ready his stance.

There was a moment of tension, where the strain between the two opposing groups was so strong that one could literally reach out and touch it with their bare hands. Then, as if by an unspoken command, both armies charged at each other. All the shinigami, if they were physically able, no matter how wounded, how exhausted they were, raised their weapons and clashed with the arrancar.

The air filled with the sounds of metal scraping harshly together. Screams of pain and roars choked the air. Shinigami cried out as they were wounded or cut down, and hollows' roar as they were wounded or slayed. Blood splattered the air, crimson drops that harshly contrasted the bright blue backdrop of the mocking sunny sky. This was the true battle.

And unfortunately, the Soul Society's forces were being crushed by the sheer strength and number of Aizen's army. No matter how hard the fought, how valiantly they fought, they were weakening. They could not possibly hold out much longer.

They were badly outnumbered.

What they needed, was a miracle.

* * *

"Look behind me, Toushirou. Do you see anything?"

Toushirou craned his neck to gaze around the dragon's massive body. For a moment, he could see nothing other than the vast plain of ice. Then, suddenly, a few feet away, there appeared a sudden bright glow in the air. It grew brighter and brighter, shining like the sun. The light seemed to gain substance, converging together. Finally, it formed into a sort of an intricate golden seal. A bubble seemed to blossom from the center of it, hovering around the seal and hardening to form a clear, glass-like barrier.

"This is the seal upon your power. If you can see it, then you are already on your first step to obtaining it. There have been few incarnations of the Heavenly Guardian in the past, but none have ever been able to even see it."

"What do I have to do? What good is just seeing it?" Toushirou demanded, unmoved by the fact that he was the first to see it.

"You must cut it." Hyourinmaru replied simply. "That is the only way to break the seal upon your power."

"There's more. Just cutting it is too easy," Toushirou narrowed his eyes at the ice dragon.

Hyourinmaru made a noise that would pass for a laugh, if a dragon laughs. "You really are a genius. Your intuition is exceptional. Very well, I will hold back no more secrets. You must cut it, but to do so, you must first break that barrier. You must prove to me, as you did when you mastered your bankai, that you are more powerful than I, and that you are my master. You must prove that you are worthy of this power, and that you know who you are. To do that, all you must do is get past me."

Toushirou looked at his with a frown. This sounded like some sort of old legend, where the person must prove himself. He couldn't help but feel doubtful that this was all.

"Yes, I know it sounds too simple, but you shouldn't underestimate this. It is harder than you think. Of-course, getting past me is key. Forcing me into submission, like your bankai training. But unlike before, I will not hold back this time. I will fight you at my full strength, with the method of fighting that you know the best."

Toushirou looked on, confused. The method of fighting that he knew the best? But that was sword…

There was a sudden bright glow, accompanied by the sound of shattering ice. The ice dragon glowed, and suddenly shattered, to Toushirou's great shock, and sent shards of lethally sharp ice in all directions. Reiatsu flared, more powerful than anything Toushirou had ever felt before. Through the mist and ice dust that had risen up, Toushirou saw a figure, one that resembled a man.

He stood there, tall and proud, a replica of the blade of Hyourinmaru in his hand. He was clothed in an ice-blue kimono and hakama, as well as a pale blue haori, which shimmered when he moved, as if it had scales. His long, silver-white hair was pulled back loosely from his face, looking slightly blue as it rippled in the wind and reiatsu. When he opened them, his eyes were an ice blue, and still retained a dragon-like feeling. Eyes of an ancient beast, yet at the same time filled with deep understanding and wisdom, set in his pale face like chips of ice. Reiatsu shimmered around him. Though he had never seen this man before, Toushirou knew at once that he must be…

"Hyourinmaru," Toushirou whispered, realizing that somehow, the great ice-dragon had somehow assumed a human form.

"This time Toushirou, you will fight me in this form," Hyourinmaru's voice was no longer a low growl, but clear and smooth like water. "Your greatest strength is this kind of battle, is it not? Prove to me that you surpass me in everything, and that you are my master, or else, you will die."

In a blink of and eye, the man vanished from sight. Toushirou's eyes widened as he suddenly appeared right in front of him, his blade slashing toward him. Instinctively, he shunpoed to the side to avoid the strike.

_Damn, _he thought. _He's strong._ Just that one attack had allowed him to completely analyze his skill level. His level of sword and shunpo were exceptional. He could hardly believe it, but he wasted no time thinking on it.

He leapt as the blade came again.

"Why do you only dodge? What good would it do?" Hyourinmaru asked, shunpoing right up to him again. "How can you win if you run?"

Toushirou twisted his body in mid-air to avoid the strike to his stomach.

He gnashed his teeth. He knew the dragon to be right. He could never be the master of Hyourinmaru if he was running away from him.

As he landed on the ground, his eyes were suddenly caught on the sight of one of the ice shards that Hyourinmaru had discarded. The weak light from the sun glinted off of the razor-sharp edge. This gave him an idea.

Water and ice, that's what he needed. All along, sword was his strength. He was talented at all the arts. Quite exceptional actually. Hakuda, Hoho, Kidou, but Zanjutsu was always his strength, his pride. He knew that was why Hyourinmaru was fighting him with sword. Now that he couldn't fight using Hyourinmaru, he would have to use something else to make up for it.

Water and ice. That was the answer. If he was and ice and water wielder, then that was what he needed. It is his essence, perhaps what his soul had first been born of. He spun around to face Hyourinmaru, concentrating as much reiatsu in his hand as possible. He felt the coolness of water running against his palm, and the frigidness of ice as the water froze, ice shards harsh against his skin.

As Hyourinmaru brought his blade down upon him again, he blocked it this time with his own blade of ice. He grunted in effort.

"Good," Hyourinmaru said, his eyes glinting and his lips almost curved up in a smile. "I'm glad that you have stopped running and thought up of a way to counter me. But don't get too confident too quickly." With a push, Hyourinmaru pushed Toushirou's blade back, and Toushirou was forced back a few paces. The man charged again, maneuvering his blade in a complicated arc that would have left most others utterly confused. But Toushirou was a master swordsman. He knew all about things such as this. Just as Hyourinmaru's blade came slashing in at his side at an odd angle, he expertly slid his blade between Hyourinmaru's and his flesh, pushing it aside. Hyourinmaru immediately retaliated with a more direct attack, which Toushirou quickly blocked then retaliating with an attack of his own.

Hyourinmaru didn't seem fazed. Instead, he easily blocked Toushirou's would be deadly attack, sending the boy back a few paces. Toushirou, however, used the force of the push to gain speed as he kicked off the ground, shunpoing at the man so fast that it took him by surprise, especially as a rough ice blade suddenly slashed at his side.

Hyourinmaru leapt back, and glanced at Toushirou. He ran a hand along the wound, sealing it in a layer of ice, as Toushirou sometimes did. The boy gazed steadily back at the dragon turned man.

"Impressive, Toushirou. But you have no time to get confident," Hyourinmaru said.

"What do you mean?" Toushirou asked.

"You don't really think that's all I can do, do you?" Hyourinmaru asked in return. He raised his sword so that it was out to the side, parallel to the ground. Dense, blue reiatsu began to swirl around the blade, forming into liquid, which in turn formed into ice. The ice molded together with water, twisting and turning, gaining shape and definition.

Toushirou's eyes widened in shock as for the first time, he found himself face to face with his own shikai attack. The dragon turned its menacing red eyes upon him, its body towering over him.

"If you are too surpass me in every aspect, then of course, that includes shikai and bankai." Hyourinmaru said in response to Toushirou's shock.

The dragon let out a roar and shot through the air toward him, trailing ice dust and water droplets from its body. Toushirou jumped up immediately to avoid the lethal jaws of the dragon, bringing his makeshift blade up, bringing it crashing down upon the dragons head to hinder it's progress. The dragon's strength surprised him, however, and although he pushed as hard as he could against it, he was pushed back instead.

_I never knew that my shikai was this strong, considering _I _was the one summoning it. But then again, I think it is a bit stronger than the one I summon, and I think it has something to do with the fact that Hyourinmaru's the one to summon it. Already, I feel as if he is more powerful than the Hyourinmaru I know. _

The dragon gave one last thrust and sent Toushirou flying through the air. He twisted his body in mid-air, trying but failing to move into a position that would enable him to land softly, but he was falling too fast. Instead, he hit the icy ground heavily, pain shooting through his entire body, which was already beginning to feel sore.

Hyourinmaru walked towards him, the ice shadow of himself coiling and twisting in the air behind him. "Get up Toushirou. Is this how a master acts?"

But there had been no need for his words. Toushirou had already pushed himself to his feet. He turned and gritted his teeth at Hyourinmaru. "Of-course not." He said, angry at Hyourinmaru's words.

"Then show me how one would act. I know you have it in you. I do not play, Toushirou. I do not frolic with incompetent weaklings. I will not recognize you as my master and the Guardian if you were had been weak. Did you think that I would have given myself to someone who cannot rule over me?"

"No. You aren't like that. I wouldn't want you to have done that," Toushirou replied.

"And I will not. You are not an ordinary shinigami, as I am not an ordinary zanpakutou. I was born from your soul. You were always more powerful than I. Now, show me that my assumption is true!"

In a flash, he was at Toushirou's side again, swinging his blade. Toushirou dodged it and instantly shot his own attack at him. Hyourinmaru leapt away, and landing a few feet away, he plunged his sword into the ground. Ice raced along the ground from the tip of the blade, rushing toward Toushirou. Toushirou didn't dodge. He knew that it would do nothing. Instead, he lifted his blade and met with it full on. It was strong, just as strong as the dragon had been, but he refused to budge. He was not going to be pushed over again. No never again, not by something as weak as a shikai level attack. Perhaps not even bankai. With a cry of defiance and a furious slash of his sword, he shattered the ice and stopped its movements.

The dragon immediately took its place, coming on to Toushirou so fast that he barely saw it. But he had expected its attack. He had been ready. Just as the great beast dove toward him, he vanished from place in a quick shunpo. The dragon crashed headfirst into the ground upon which he had stood moments before, sending up a wave of water and ice and dust. Toushirou appeared in the air just above the dragon. Before the dust cleared, before the dragon had a chance to recover itself and attack again, he shot toward the ground, plunging his blade, surrounded by his reiatsu, as hard as he could where he knew the head of the beast was. There was an explosion of reiatsu, one so powerful that he was nearly thrown into the air. But he fought against it, pushing his blade down upon the struggling dragon while shards of ice flew past his body, grazing his exposed skin. He frowned in concentration, and with one last cry and thrust, the ice dragon exploded in an explosion of ice, water, and reiatsu.

Toushirou landed beside the crater which had formed from the attack, panting. Without turning, he knew that Hyourinmaru was behind him, having approached him silently.

"I see you have learned a little. Very well. We are running out of time. I will have to raise this up a level now."

Toushirou turned to face the man. He looked back, his face severe. He raised his blade up, pointing it up at the sky. The weak light of the sky glinted off of the frost that had crept along it. His reiatsu flared.

Toushirou felt the tremendous reiatsu slam against his body, almost knocking him over. Water once again swirled down the blade, though this time, it spread onto Hyourinmaru's body itself.

A sudden pair of ice wings sprouted from his back. Ice raced down his harms and legs, encasing them with icy armor. Hyourinmaru had taken on bankai form.

Toushirou's eyes widened.

"Now, Toushirou. See if you can fight off your own bankai."

* * *

Okay, I have no idea whether Ichigo knows that Shinji was the captain of the fifth or not. That happened so long ago that I've forgotten by now. But it's just humor, so if it's wrong, it's not that big of a deal, right? (Please don't hurt me!)

Also, I know that it was only the captains and lieutenants at the fight, but in my story, there will be many nameless shinigami there as well, only to make it seem more like war. Also, (and I fell bad to say this) but since it is war, so people need to die, and it's easier to kill nameless people, as much as it makes me feel bad, so yeah…Please forgive me!

Now, with the fact of Hyourinmaru being human, I know he isn't, but I once saw a fanfiction when he had a human form for once, and I really wanted to do something like that. And some of this story is inspired by other fanfiction, so I give thanks to all those others who wrote such amazing stories.

Oh, and please leave a review so I know what you think…I feel bad for asking, but I want to know. And it gives me more confidence ^_^._  
_


	6. Chapter 6 The Battle Drags On

Yay! I just found out that I actually passed that piano exam. I got 84, and that's actually pretty good, considering that I just started preparing for it three months ago and I completely screwed up the technical studies due to nerves.

Enough of my rambling, and on with the story. Starting from here, it will veer away from what has already been set in stone in Bleach, because obviously, I've gone past where the story is right now, and I'm having to make things up. I hope none of the things offends anyone. I hope I did an okay job with this chapter. Action is not my area of expertise.

* * *

Chapter 6 The Battle Drags On

Ulquiorra's face was impassive as he clashed swords with the new fourth espada. The espada in turn had the exact same expression as him.

_So, Aizen knew, when he left Hueco Mundo, that he would not have me on his side for long. I do not know whether he believed me to die, or to betray him, but he was prepared. Aizen is _always _prepared._

The espada gave him an emotionless look as he lunged again. Ulquiorra expertly blocked the attack, but he could feel within it a strength that may be beyond his own.

All around him, fights were going on. The vizards had donned their masks and were fighting at an amazing level. They were equal to even some of the espada.

Byakuya had forced himself back into the fight, though it was obvious that he was weakening. However, the stoic noble would let no physical difficulties hinder him from his fight as he engaged one of the new espada in battle.

Ukitake had fought off the first arrancar, but before he could even draw breath, it was quickly replaced by an even more powerful one. He was exhausted, and could feel the beginnings of his chest problems rising up.

Rukia was fending off the new tenth espada. _I'm sure that he won't be like Yammy, but still, he's strong enough as it is._

Her eyes widened as the espada suddenly vanished. Before her brain had begun to register that he'd vanished, he appeared behind her.

There was a loud clash of blades. Rukia whirled around to find Renji suddenly behind her, grunting as he pushed against the espada's blade.

"Rukia, you're not strong enough to fight someone of his level right now. You were severely injured in Hueco Mundo!'

"Renji!" Rukia snapped, ignoring the truth in his words, and the pain and minor bleeding that had kicked up from some of her recent wounds that had reopened. "I am perfectly well enough to-argh!" she gasped as a blade slashed her on the arm, leaving a deep cut that began to bleed heavily. The espada had gotten past Renji and attacked her. She'd managed to back away enough to avoid losing her arm, but not enough to avoid being struck all the same.

"See Rukia? Even your reflexes are slowing! Please. Just go and fight the other arrancar and leave the espada alone!" Renji turned away from her and faced the espada. "I'll deal with this one," he frowned in concentration as he raised his zanpakutou above his head. "Bankai! Hihiō Zambimaru!"

There was an explosion of reiatsu as Renji activated his bankai. Rukia leapt away, muttering, "Renji…" She decided to respect his concern for her and fight somewhere else.

Renji felt the last of the flying reiatsu calm as his bankai completed itself. He faced the espada, in bankai form now. The espada looked back at him with disdain.

"Hmp, You may have bankai, but you're still just a lieutenant, as I can tell by your clothing. You still think you can defeat me?"

"You'll be surprised," Renji retorted. "I have a fair number of tricks up my sleeve. I'll fight anyone who goes against us."

"Brave words, young man, but foolish ones," The espada raised his zanpakutou.

Soi Fon gave a groan and pushed herself up, panting heavily still.

"Taichou!" Omaeda cried out, waving his arms uselessly. "You shouldn't move yet! You're wounded and still recovering from using bankai and-"

"Shut up Omaeda," she snarled, while panting and gnashing her teeth against the pain of her wounds. Her body was as if every bone in it had been shattered, and every muscle ripped, but she still persevered. "This is the real battle. Everyone is needed to fight! You think that at a time like this I'm going to lie here and whimper like a child?"

"But Taichou-"

"I said SHUT UP!" she was silent for a moment after her outburst. With a final painful strain, she managed to stand. She turned to glare at Omaeda, and though sweat slid down her face and she was breathing heavily, her glare still contained all the venom of a deadly wasp. "I still have one more card to play. I'm going to fight until I am struck down and unable to move. You will not stop me Omaeda, understand? Get in the way, and I'll _kill _you like you are the enemy as well!"

Omaeda shrank back, struck dumb with fear. Though one may wonder how a man as large as Omaeda could possibly shrink, when one confronts furious Soi Fon, one's limits can really be pushed.

The words were barely out of her mouth when there came the sudden wind of shunpo, and Yoruichi appeared at Soi Fon's side. "Soi Fon…"

"I'm sorry, Yoruichi-sama. Even _you _will not be able to stop me in my decision.'

Yoruichi grinned at her protégé. "Now, when have I ever stopped you in anything like that? I was just going to offer that we go forward together, like old times. How's that?"

Soi Fon's eyes widened, then narrowed in gratitude. "Thank you, Yoruichi-sama."

"Heh, whatever. Let's go!"

"Right!"

All pain forgotten at the thought of fighting at her mentor's side once again, Soi Fon joined Yoruichi in a quick dash. They both gathered their reiatsu.

In unison, both cried out "Shunkō!"

The fabric of their robes at their shoulders and arms were ripped apart, leaving them bare. Reiatsu flared off both women.

Matsumoto flipped through the air as the arrancar she was fighting came at her again.

_Damn! _She thought, wheezing for breath. _My body's weakening fast. These arrancar are freakin' strong! I don't know how much longer I can last._

A bright flash behind her forced her to leap again, to avoid being hit by the dangerous cero. Her body screamed in protest.

"Ah ha ha, little shinigami. Tired of running? Why don't you just stay nice and still and allow me to end your pain."

"Shut up!" Matsumoto shouted. She raised her zanpakutou quickly. "Unare, Haineko!"

Her blade exploded into the tiny, barely visible ash-like blades. The ash shot toward the arrancar. However, the arrancar immediately disappeared from sight just as the ash was about to make contact. Matsumoto's eyes flickered from side to side, all her senses alert, trying to pinpoint the location of the arrancar.

'Above you!"

She looked up in shock to see the arrancar perched in the air above her. At once, she relented and sent Haineko's ashes shooting toward him, only to have him vanish and appear to her left.

"Too slow!" he taunted in an irritating sing-song voice.

In rage, she sent the ashes at him again, yet to be thwarted once more as he vanished in another flash of sonido.

Matsumoto paused for a second to think. It was what her captain always did in a difficult situation. _He's fast. I never know where he will appear next, and my ash never reaches him in time. Hmmm, I that case, I'll surround myself with the ash."_

The ash obeyed and formed a sort of barrier around her, covering every opening.

"Behind you!"

Without a moment's pause, the ash that had been behind her immediately shot toward the arrancar, without Matsumoto moving so much as a muscle. She heard with satisfaction the cry of pain and surprise as the arrancar was cut with the tiny ash blades, which he had neither seen nor anticipated to be there.

"Well, I'll admit that was impressive." Matsumoto turned in astonishment to see the arrancar, though his body bleeding and full of cuts, still standing as if nothing had happened. Torn, bloody robes fluttered in a light breeze as he said, "Still, you're no match for me."

'Is that so?" Matsumoto snapped.

"Very much so," the arrancar replied in his singsong voice, but readying his stance.

'Well, don't get too confident," Matsumoto said, readying herself as well.

Izuru, meanwhile, wasn't having much more luck. His opponent seemed to prefer fast movement and hand to hand combat. He had nothing to strike against, so his zanpakutou's ability was completely useless.

"What's the matter? You too tired to fight?" his opponent, a lithe female arrancar, jeered, flipping effortlessly through the air to halt in front of him. "Want to finish this now?"

"Not particularly, if you're the one to do the finishing," he replied, shunpoing forward and swinging his blade.

The arrancar vanished in a flash of sonido, reappearing at his shoulder. She deftly plunged her hand in his side, sending a wave of pain shooting throughout his body and blood to spurt from the wound. Izuru bit his lip against the cry that nearly escaped his lips. Instead, he quickly retaliated and brought Wabisuke down upon the arrancar's arm. The quick blade of his zanpakutou sliced the female's arm off cleanly. The arrancar leapt away with a cry of outrage, sending a blast of cero at him as she did. Izuru managed to dodge it, but could feel his wounds throbbing with each movement. He frowned against the pain, and gripped the hilt of his zanpakutou tighter.

_Fine, if she is going to stick to this method of combat, then I'll just have to do this without any tricks and cut her down_, he thought grimly.

Lisa, who was fighting off the eighth espada along with Kensei and Mashiro, who were engaging the sixth and seventh espada respectively, shunpoed through the air to avoid the torrent of cero blasts that choked the air after her.

"Heeeeyyyyyy, Lisa, long time no see! You're doing well, I suppose," came a cheery and very familiar voice.

She turned to find Kyouraku Shunsui, having just dodged another one of Stark's shots from his guns. He skidded to a halt beside her, keeping his eyes on the first espada, but obviously addressing her.

"Kyouraku-taichou," she acknowledged, keeping her eyes on her opponent as well, who was for the moment, looking around confusedly as to her whereabouts. "I suppose Nanao-chan is well?"

"Oh, better than well. In fact, she's my fukutaichou now. She acts a lot like you, you know, when you're serious. I wonder where she could have learnt it all?" Kyouraku's eyes flickered to her for a moment, a mischievous glint in his eyes, one that had still not dimmed after all these years.

"I wonder too." She replied, her eyes misting over for the quickest moment with nostalgia. "She isn't here today." It was more of a statement than a question.

"No. Can't have my Nanao-chan getting hurt now, can I? I would be devastated, and I'm sure you would be too. So she's back in Seireitei, taking care of protection there, like a good girl."

A smirk danced on Lisa's lips. "If she doesn't hit you over the head with a book from comments like that, then the sky must surely be the ground and the ground the sky."

Kyouraku braced his muscles to leap, just as Lisa gripped the hilt of her zanpakutou tighter as the espada located her at last.

"Well, you hit the nail right on the mark. How could you have known?'

"Hmmm, I wonder. Maybe I just happen to know that the person who taught her how to act like me also told her to feel free to whack you over the head with something preferably heavy if you were ever perverted."

"Ahh, I think you are correct."

The two both leapt toward their respective opponents. Though they were fighting at such close proximity to each other, they never got in each other's way. Perhaps some of the past experiences of fighting as captain and lieutenant still remained strong.

Hisagi Shuhei had taken on another arrancar. This time, however, he did not hesitate to release his zanpakutou. His lip was in a grim line as he fought. With a carefully controlled swing, he managed to strike the arrancar, and send him flying, though he knew that the arrancar would recover in a moment.

"Hey, kid! I guess you decided in the end to stop being a crybaby?" came a slightly demanding voice.

Hisagi turned slightly to find Kensei, swords locked with the espada he was fighting. He did not turn, but a grin was upon his face, which Hisagi returned. "Lieutenant now as well, I see. Good for you."

"Thanks," Hisagi said simply to the man that he once, and still did, admire so much. He turned his attention back to the fight at had, but he could help but feel a bit of pride course through him at Kensei's praise, even if it was just a small one.

Yumichika groaned as he finally awoke from being knocked out by Izuru. "Stupid blond," he muttered angrily, and looked around him. To his surprise, he found Ikkaku sitting on a broken slab of concrete, his zanpakutou over his shoulder. "Ikkaku?"

"So, you're finally awake?" Without waiting for an answer, he stood up. "C'mon then."

"Hey, Ikkaku, what happened to all your injuries?" Yumichika asked curiously, "And why were we both here, in this unpleasant alley?" he asked, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

"Inoue Orihime. She came back, it seems, and she and Unohana patched me up, then you, though you didn't need much patching up." He shot him a suspicious look, which Yumichika pretended to not have noticed. "Anyways, I was just waiting for you to wake up." Ikkaku continued, gazing at where the center of the battle was taking place.

"Thanks," Yumichika replied. He looked as well at the battle. "Hmmm, it seems like we missed the start. So, it's all out war now, is it?"

"Well, we can have a lot more fun now. And besides, we got more help."

"Yes…but those masks that those people are wearing doesn't quite appeal to my tastes."

"Suck it up, Yumichika. By the way things are going, they're gonna get really ugly." Ikkaku said, drawing his sword and readying his muscles.

"I suppose," Yumichika said with resignation as he copied Ikkaku's actions. The two, without another word, shunpoed into the heat of the chaos.

Yamamoto, who had before that just stood to the side, also joined the fight this time. The shinigami steered clear of the fire-master. He engaged the new second espada. Though he was powerful, and they seemed to be evenly matched, he could feel weariness already starting to come over his bones. He was old, and could not completely match the movements of the young, lithe espada. However, the Soutaichou was a man of pride, and a warrior that had fought numerous battles. He could not let such a petty obstacle get in the way of fighting. He had shed his outer clothing, and released his zanpakutou, its heat searing and as hot as Toushirou's Hyourinmaru was cold. The second espada, though looking quite calm and indifferent, knew that this was someone not to be taken lightly.

"Well, old man, I don't like hurting elders really. It's not my taste to hurt a defenseless old grandpa, but I guess it can't be helped." The espada smirked.

"Your youth has left you very foolish, espada. Now, quiet before I decide to burn your tongue. I have no time to teach children their manners."

Hi lieutenant, Sasakibe, who fought with an arrancar a little further off, felt a tremor in the air and a fierce reiatsu. He shuddered at the thought of Yamamoto using his bankai for the first time in thousands of years.

Ichigo faced Aizen. They stood alone now, in the center of the battle. The vaizards had driven away the new espada, and the other arrancar were all engaged in battle with the other shinigami. Ichigo was dimly aware that the new arrancar seemed even more powerful than before, as even the soutaichou had wasted no time and gone straight to bankai.

"Well, Kurosaki. I guess it just leaves you and me," Aizen's voice was filled with ill suppressed contempt and mocking humor. His smirk was still quite alight on his face, and he seemed completely laid back as he faced Ichigo.

Ichigo glared at the man, whose smirk just widened. "Aizen," he said in a dangerous voice filled with rage. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you did!"

"You shouldn't be so quick to make such threats," Aizen said calmly.

Ichigo didn't answer. Instead, with a cry, he shunpoed toward Aizen, bringing his zanpakutou upon the ex-captain. Aizen easily blocked it, and, without so much as shifting his footing, swung Kyouka Suigetsu at Ichigo's stomach. Ichigo, having learnt from that time on Soukyoku Hill what Aizen was about to do, quickly leapt back to avoid being severed in two. He did not hesitate, but charged again at Aizen, showering him with relentless strikes. Aizen blocked each one, and though he was being pushed back, his smirk did not waver.

Ichigo, after another desperate pushing match of blades with Aizen, leapt back again. He readied himself, and saw from the corner of his eyes black reiatsu manifesting itself around Zangetsu. "Getsuga…Tenshou!"

Aizen vanished in a shunpo to avoid the attack, which flew off into space harmlessly. He reappeared as soon as it had cleared, still smirking.

"Come now, you didn't really think that such simple attacks are going to hurt me? I heard you mastered hollow powers. Why don't you show them to me? Then we can stop wasting time and fight at our full standards now." Aizen suggested calmly.

Ichigo glared at the man. "Like hell I'm just going to do what you say, you bastard!" Ichigo spat.

Aizen was unabashed. "Still every bit as rude as ever, Kurosaki. Very well. If you aren't going to just be a good boy and show me, I'll just go ahead and raise this up a level." He lifted his blade so that it was perpendicular to the ground. "Remember, it is your own undoing. If you had just done what I said, I may not have ever had to use this."

Reiatsu began to manifest and fly around Aizen's body and zanpakutou. He looked Ichigo in the eye, and turning his zanpakutou to point at Ichigo, he uttered calmly, "Bankai."

Reaitsu exploded. Many of the other fighters paused for a moment to look in shock.

"Oh my, Aizen's actually gonna use his bankai. I never thought I'd see the day!" Gin said, the smile still on his face as he slashed at his opponent.

"And do you know what it does, Ichimaru?" Byakuya said coolly as he fought his own fight.

Gin sighed. "One thing's for sure. Kurosaki's gonna be hurtin' a lot, and likely hatin' Aizen much more than he already does, if he survives."

Ichigo felt a blinding light suddenly obscure his vision. He suddenly felt strangely detached with his own body. He screwed his eyes against the light, and cursing Aizen in his mind.

At last, his vision cleared, and his surroundings came into view again. Or…was this really his surroundings?

He looked around him warily. A frown was upon his face due to the concentration he gave to the sight that met his eyes.

For he suddenly found himself surrounded by a golden light, and hundreds of smooth, shining mirrors, all of various sizes. He could see no ground beneath his feet. He seemed to be just floating in this space of golden light and mirrors. Silence rang against his ears.

"Where am I?" he muttered.

"Welcome, Kurosaki Ichigo, to my…Hypnotic chamber, you can call it." Came the voice of Aizen. "Kyouka Suigetsu's ability has increased here. Your senses are now completely warped and your mind is trapped here, its connection to your body lost. Nothing you do is the truth. If you try to move forward, you may actually be moving backwards. If you slash outwards, you may actually be stabbing yourself. Even if you think you are not moving, you may be about to slit your own throat, or impaling your friends, so I suggest you be careful," he added mockingly.

Ichigo gnashed his teeth and turned to face one of the mirrors. As he did, a sharp pain appeared in his leg. He looked down to see a deep gash, as if made by a blade. A strange feeling told him that it was Zangetsu, but…the sword was at his other side…or was it?

He looked back up into the mirror. To his shock and horror, he saw himself standing there, his zanpakutou embedded deep within the flesh of his leg. Yet, even as he watched, the figure in the mirror pulled the blade out roughly, causing blood to spurt out and the pain to become magnified, and began to swing it toward his stomach.

He jumped to the side instinctively, his eyes breaking contact with the mirror. He felt no pain, which meant that he must have been successful.

"Oh, I must have forgotten to mention another aspect of my bankai. Forgive me. Now, you see these mirrors here? They aren't here just for decoration. They show you what you are actually doing. However, when you look into one, then you completely surrender your body's control to me. As long as you keep looking into it, I have completely control over your body. Fun, ne?"

Ichigo's frown deepened. _So, I can't look into the mirrors. That's easier said than done. There are mirrors everywhere. And even if I don't, everything I think I'm doing could be something else. What the hell do I do now?_

_And why_, he wondered, _is nothing happening right now? What am I doing right now?_

Rukia was off fighting another arrancar when she saw it. She had just finished the arrancar off with Tsukishiro. The fool had been just like the first arrancar she'd ever fought, not realizing that Tsukishiro's domain was the whole circle, which had now grown slightly bigger after training. As she watched the ice of her zanpakutou disintegrate to dust, Ichigo caught her eye.

She turned toward him, confusion upon her face. Ichigo was standing still and unmoving, while Aizen watched nearby, a wide smirk upon his face. His eyes were blank and a dull brown, and his mouth was slightly open.

Rukia continued to watch in confusion as Ichigo slowly, as if in a dream, lifted his zanpakutou, not at Aizen, as she expected, but just up.

And then her confusion turned into horror as she suddenly saw where his zanpakutou's progress was going. Slowly, Ichigo lifted his zanpakutou and rested the blade at his own neck, arms poised to cut it open.

"No!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "ICHIGO!"

* * *

And that's the end. There was no Toushirou in this chapter, but he will be in the next chapter.

To all those who think that I may be moving to fast, I'm sorry. I'm trying not to. Aizen's bankai will not be his last card. There will be something more later. Also, I hope that you don't mind its concepts. Bankai usually follows the concept of the shikai, only amplified. I spent a lot of time trying to think how hypnosis could be amplified and came up with this. I hope it wasn't too hard to understand.

Thanks to the people that reviewed! I'm glad you like it so far. I will try to type the next chapter as soon as possible.


	7. Chapter 7 A Losing Battle

Grrr! That was so beeping annoying!! (Spoilers for ch. 364 if you haven't read it) I never thought that Wonderwise would appear again! I almost forgot that he existed. And bringing that thing! And all the stupid espada still alive! Damn it I hate this! I am seriously going to have a fit soon! GRRRR!!!!!! And now my story is missing something again. Ah well, it's too late to change anything now, so I'll just leave the story the way it is. Sorry if that upsets you, but I really don't know how I can put Wonderwise in, and I don't really want to, unless he's going to…you know what I mean.

It was good of the vaizards to show up, but still, now that Halibel's not dead! GRRRR!!! I will seriously kill her! Unless Toushirou will, of-course. GRRR! I hate her (sorry for anyone that likes her, but I'm a very obsessed Toushirou fan, so that would explain it), but I hate Aizen much more!

Anyways, enough of my ranting (though a certain unnamed friend of mine, you will be getting an earful. You know who you are. Sorry, though I think you will expect it anyways), I hope it's not too boring, or weird.

* * *

Chapter 7 A Losing Battle

Toushirou gasped for breath, plunging the blade of ice into the ground and leaning on it for support. He stumbled and fell onto one knee. Blood flowed from a gash to his forehead and into his eyes, blurring his vision. His body felt beaten and sore, but he knew that it was not over yet. He was bleeding again from several new injuries, but he was beyond caring. He'd experienced so much pain already that they were like nothing. All he cared about now was to survive this fight.

Hyourinmaru wasn't going to let him stay down for long. He charged again, his hair flying back and the ice encasing his body streaming dust behind him as it melted. He hadn't made it through the fight unscathed either. Though he still seemed to have the upper hand, he could also feel weariness beginning to set in. Toushirou was a powerful opponent, and he had pushed Hyourinmaru to his limit as well. But he had exhausted himself.

Through the blood in his eye, Toushirou could see the blue blur that was Hyourinmaru coming closer. Without thinking on it, he dodged to the side, avoiding the blade that had been inches from impaling him. The blade struck the ground instead, sending up a column of ice.

With great agility, Hyourinmaru shot toward the boy, sending a stream of ice, which he blocked, albeit with much effort. He could feel the frigid cold of the ice, numbing his fingers due to there close proximity. He frowned and narrowed his eyes, and with another thrust shattered the ice.

It was only after he did that he realized that Hyourinmaru had vanished. He looked around wildly for a moment, trying to pinpoint his location when a cold frigid gust hitting his back told him all he needed to know. Toushirou swung his blade behind him, blocking just in time the blow that would have split his back open. He glared into Hyourinmaru's eyes, and could read in their blue depths that he would not hesitate to kill him if he was too weak.

With a push, the two pushed apart. Toushirou skidded on the ice plain while Hyourinmaru simply leapt into the air. Toushirou gasped for breath. What wouldn't he give to just collapse onto the ground and close his eyes against the world, and not think nor feel anymore.

Hyourinmaru narrowed his eyes at Toushirou. He knew how much pain he was in. His outer body had already been injured, and now he is inwardly as well. But he knew he could not stop this now. This was not something you start and stop anytime you wanted. Besides, to do so will be an insult to Toushirou's pride, and a dragon knew all about the importance of pride.

His eyes flickered to the seal hovering about 20 feet away. The barrier seemed to have thinned, and the glow brighter, but Hyourinmaru knew that there was still a ways to go before it shattered.

Toushirou let out a cry at attacked Hyourinmaru this time. The man just blocked it easily, and gave a shove. He sent Toushirou flying through the air, and a stream of water and ice after him. Toushirou hit the ground heavily, feeling the ice and water showering his body, adding to the damage.

Hyourinmaru landed softly onto the surface of the ice plain. When Toushirou didn't move, he began to walk toward the still figure lying on the ground. He stopped just inches from the boy. "Are you finished, Toushirou? Are you unable to fight now?"

Toushirou didn't move for a moment. He only lay with his face pressed against the icy ground, his sides heaving, the cold from the ice numbing his body. His makeshift ice-blade lay a few inches from his limp fingertips. His whole body ached like crazy. He felt as if it had been run over by a stampede, and as if it hadn't rested itself for thousands of years. He knew he was wounded very seriously again, and he didn't care how this would affect him right now or later. But he was beyond caring about anything at the moment except that he was not going to spend time lying at Hyourinmaru's feet like some pitiful thing. His hand formed a fist as he lifted his head painfully, blinking blood from his eye. The layer of ice that had resulted from Hyourinmaru's attack shattered and shed from his body in a shower of ice. "Of course not!" he snarled. "I'm not going to be finished until I can complete this. I won't let my body's weaknesses or you stop me from that!"

Painfully, he pushed himself to his feet and faced Hyourinmaru, wondering what on earth could happen next, yet not fearing. No, never fearing. He had finished being afraid. He was too exhausted to be afraid. All that was left was steely determination and resolve to fight through this and do whatever it takes to pass Hyourinmaru.

"Is that so?" Hyourinmaru asked. "And just how are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to beat you first, before anything else. I'm going to surpass you!"

He had no qualms against Hyourinmaru, but at that moment, he gazed at him as though he were an enemy. He charged at the man, his sword poised to strike, strike and cut him down.

Hyourinmaru made no move to block or dodge. In fact, he didn't move at all, only gazed at Toushirou with an expressionless face, his blade hung limply at his side. At the last moment, Toushirou hesitated, wondering if he could actually strike the man, and what would happen if he did. He didn't really want to kill Hyourinmaru, if that was even possible.

It was in that moment of hesitation that Hyourinmaru pounced, the only warning being the narrowing of his eyes. He was suddenly right up to Toushirou, and before the boy could even begin to express shock, he blocked his blade's progress with his own, and with the other hand, he struck Toushirou so hard that he was sent flying backwards, landing heavily upon the ice again.

"What's the matter? Why are you hesitating? I though you said you wanted to beat me. Do you know the full meaning of that? You cannot present such a decision, and then hesitate to meet it. You cannot hesitate, cannot doubt. You must stop holding yourself back, and be absolutely sure of your decision. Otherwise, you shall never surpass me."

Hyourinmaru leapt forward as soon as the last words left his lips, and charged at Toushirou this time. The young captain pulled himself to his feet just in time and blocked the blade that came toward him. Ice began to build on Toushirou's blade, and he jerked it away, immediately thrusting his blade at Hyourinmaru's head. Hyourinmaru ducked to avoid the assault, and retaliated with a slash to Toushirou's stomach, which he backed away just in time to avoid. Hyourinmaru narrowed his eyes, and at the same time, both shunpoed forward, exchanging furious blows, each just fending off the other.

Hyourinmaru managed to back away for a second, and before Toushirou could do anything else, he plunged his blade into the ground, sending up a stream of ice, this time moving at double the speed it did before, racing toward Toushirou, who dodged to the side.

"Stop dodging Toushirou. How will you ever beat me if you only avoid me?"

He raised his blade and water began to swirl around it, molding, freezing, and forming once again into a giant, blue serpentine dragon, only this time, it was the full fledged on that Toushirou knew from his bankai, complete with it's own wings and claws that glinted dangerously. It flew toward Toushirou, who quickly dodged. It didn't give up, however, but coiled around him, enclosing him within the circle made from his body. Toushirou, who knew all about its attacks, quickly leapt from the coil before the thing could crush him. The dragon flew at him several more times, each time with him dodging.

The dragon gave up its assault after awhile, and returned to Hyourinmaru, hovering behind him, its body quivering and ready to shoot forward again, its scales scattering brilliant colors of light as it moved. "I though I told you to stop dodging?" Hyourinmaru's eyes narrowed.

Toushirou glared at the man. "I know, but what else am I suppose to do if you're the one with all the attacks?"

"That's for you to figure out. You are a genius, are you not?"

Toushirou let out an angry hiss as Hyourinmaru continued. "You are used to relying on me, and _my _abilities. You're used to relying on my shikai, and even bankai. Because of this, you have not really pushed your own abilities at all. That weighs us both down. We cannot rise higher unless you can learn to fly on your own."

He sent the dragon at Toushirou again, who jumped up just as it struck the ground that he had stood upon with its powerful and deadly tail. As it came toward him again, he raised his sword and struck it on the head, frowning and gritting his teeth in effort as he kept those deadly jaws from crushing him.

However, as he struggled against the dragon, Toushirou felt Hyourinmaru's words run through his mind again and again. _…used to relying on _my _abilities…_

Something clicked in Toushirou's mind. _That's right. All this time, I have always relied on Hyourinmaru. Even after achieving bankai, and I knew I had the abilities. It was so much easier to use Hyourinmaru, even if I did not rely solely on him. Sword was my greatest strength, and so it was my greatest weakness, because I relied too much on Hyourinmaru, and not completely on my own abilities. I knew Hyourinmaru better than anything. Better than myself it seems._

_All this time, I've never given much thought about who _I _am. Never thought to enhance my _own _power, because Hyourinmaru was always there._

_I've spent most of my life pretending to be what I am not. Ever since I entered the world of the shinigami, I have pretended. I always held myself back, because I didn't want to admit that I was different. I was already different, and in a separate category. I held myself back, even after becoming a captain and allowed to get as strong as I wished, I held back. That was why I gradually began to fear this power I felt inside of me. I didn't want to know myself, and what I am, and could be._

"Do you think that I want a master that doesn't know himself? And doesn't accept himself? Do you really think that that the Heavenly Guardian can be like that?"

_No. _Toushirou knew that the question required no answer out loud. The dragon knew that he knew. He let out a cry and slashed down with as much strength as he could upon the head of the dragon. He shattered some of the ice that made up its body, but it seemed unfazed, only charged again.

"Do you think that I would have seen the Heavenly Guardian as my master if she could not be superior to me in power?"

Toushirou did not hesitate. He gathered up as much reiatsu as he could within him in the short amount of time available. He both felt and saw the blue reiatsu manifesting around his body and blade. It condensed, gaining mass and volume, swirling around him, at his command and disposal. As the dragon came upon him, he sent a stream of water and ice, the very same components as the dragon was made of at it. The two bodies of water and ice crashed together in an explosion that resonated all over the plain and showered ice all around. Toushirou leapt into the air, and slashed down at the ice that had been the dragon and his own ice. It shattered, raining ice all around. Toushirou landed upon the ground, knowing that Hyourinmaru was nowhere near finished yet. He looked to the man, who was now walking calmly but quickly toward him.

"You have proven yourself to that you are my equal, by being able to summon them, and also being able to fend off all of my attacks so far without my aid. But you must be more than that. You must be my superior, far surpassing my power, in order to get past me. You must be sure of who you are, what you want, and what you must do to get it. Do not hesitate. Show me, show me what you know who you are."

_Do you think that you can be weak and afraid? _

"Show me that you are steadfast in your decision, and that you will not slink away from anything again."

_Did you think that you could always rely upon me?_

Toushirou could hear the undercurrent of the dragon's thoughts beneath his words. He could hear the questions beneath the ones spoken.

_Did you think that my master could be one who cannot reign over me? One who was weaker than I?_

"Prove to me, that _you _are the master. And prove to yourself that you are whom you are. Accept yourself, Hitsugaya Toushirou, your fate, and identity, for it is something that you can never fully deny, no matter how hard you try."

Toushirou looked up at Hyourinmaru. Was that it? Was this what Hyourinmaru had wanted of him all along? Was this what he had been looking for, and what was keeping him from everything? The reason that all the words were spoken and all the actions taken…all because he wanted him to stop hesitating and holding himself back, but truly be himself?

Understanding came to him. Yes. Yes, that was all. It may have seemed like something simple, but it was not something that one can understanding by just hearing the words uttered off of another's tongue. It was something that one had to discover themselves.

He understood at last, what he must do.

Hyourinmaru saw the knowledge that flashed through Toushirou's eyes, and knew that at last, the boy understood. He knew that the next words he spoke really needn't be spoken, for Toushirou already knew, but he spoke them anyways, to fuel that determination that had grown even stronger, and to complete what he had started.

"Fly on you own wings, and climb higher by your own power. Stop holding yourself back, for only when you do that, can you surpass me and only when you do that, can you finally fully awaken as the Heavenly Guardian."

* * *

Ichigo's eyes widened at the sudden voice that penetrated the silent world created by Aizen's bankai. It was one that he knew well. Rukia!

His eyes snapped behind him, and straight into a mirror. He choked with horror as he saw what he was about to do. Immediately, he tried, according to the image, to move his arm away from his throat, but his arm stopped halfway, freezing and seemingly deaf to his mind's commands, refusing to move. Then, with agonizing slowness, his arm, on its own accord, began to move toward his throat again.

"Wha-!"

"You forget, Kurosaki, that while you look into any of the mirrors, your body's control becomes _mine_," Aizen's voice, filled with sinister amusement, sounded in his ears.

"You sick bastard!" Ichigo snarled, snapping his gaze away from the mirror. He clenched his fist in rage, and as he did, he felt sudden pain shoot up his side, and knew without looking that there would be another deep gash in his side, coming about as he thought he had been clenching his fist himself. _I can't do it like this, _he thought. _I can't just stand here, completely vulnerable to myself…_

"Argh!"

He gasped as blood spurted from a sudden slash to his chest. He stumbled, only to have cuts appear all over his body. Pain sizzled through his flesh as time after time, he slashed himself. No matter which way he moved, or what he did, the outcome was not what he expected. Something else always happened.

"My, my," Came the sneering voice of Aizen. "It's always such a lovely sight to watch my enemies destroy themselves, especially since they're all doing it on their own without realization."

Ichigo was bent over, panting in pain. He tried to raise his hand to staunch the blood flowing from a wound above his eye, only to wince in pain as another cut appeared on his leg. _That's it, _he though. _I can't do it anymore. How can I even begin to fight this if I have no clue what I'm doing?_

He slowly raised his head, and when he felt no pain (which meant that whatever he was doing, he wasn't hurting himself), he blinked the blood out of his vision, and focused slowly on one of the countless mirrors that surrounded him.

_I know that it's a crazy idea, but I'm going to risk it. It's better than not knowing what's happening._

At first, all he could see was a blur of colors. Then the image began to slowly sharpen into focus. What he saw caused him to nearly scream in shock if it hadn't been for the fact that the horror had seemed to rob him of his voice. There he stood, staring ahead blankly, his blade raised and at the throat of none other than Kuchiki Rukia. Rukia's eyes were wide with shock at his actions.

"Ichigo…what…what's wrong with you?" Her voice was distant and seemed to come to Ichigo's ears as though from behind a thick glass wall. Sweat slid down her temples, and her lip trembled.

Ichigo made a sort of strangled scream in the back of his throat. _No! _he thought. _This can't be happening! I'd rather be stabbed a thousand times by my own hand than to hurt Rukia!_

He tried to jerk away, but once again, he found his body unresponsive. Instead, his arm began to move forward on its own accord, about to pierce Rukia, who was unable to move for shock.

Pain exploded all over his body. He just managed to remain standing, teeth clenched against the pain of thousands of tiny, razor sharp blade cutting into him, watching as his real body was bombarded by tiny sakura petal blades, surrounded by pale pink reishi.

Ichigo nearly cried with joy. He couldn't ever be more grateful to Byakuya now than ever. He was grateful that he'd intercepted him, and even that he'd hurt him like this. He almost relished in the pain, knowing that it stopped him from killing Rukia. He didn't care what happened to him, as long as Rukia was okay.

Byakuya stepped in front of Rukia. He was bleeding still from past wounds and new ones, but he stood tall and unwavering, his body's dilemma unaffecting him. He'd seen Ichigo start to act strange, and felt great unease. When Ichigo had stopped attacking himself (which he found shocking) and turned to Rukia, he'd snapped and almost lost control, releasing almost all his reiatsu and finishing of the battle he had been fighting in mere seconds. Then, without missing a beat, he'd sent the already flying blades of Senbonzakura flying at Ichigo.

"Niisama," Rukia whispered. She was shaking slightly, still shocked at what Ichigo had done. Seeing him about to kill himself, she'd rushed forward. She'd stood helpless as he attacked himself in clumsy strikes, as if he was doing so in a dream, unable to help him unless she wanted to endanger herself to his dangerous, wild swings. She was about to yell out, when he suddenly froze, then, slowly, and moving almost like a drunk person, he began to make his way over to her, his path wobbly, as if he wasn't sure of what he was doing. However, before she knew it, she found herself with a blade at her throat, and had been much too horrified to move.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes at Aizen. He knew that he had something to do with it. "What did you do to him?" he demanded coldly.

Aizen smirked. "Nothing, really. I just administered my bankai on him."

"Your-"

"Yes. This is my bankai. I completely trap one's mind, in another dimension, if you will. Their senses are completely warped, so they have no idea whatsoever of their actions, and can go completely out of control. However, that is just one half of it. If conditions are met, then I can get control of one's whole body and senses."

Rukia's eyes widened and she gasped in shock, while Byakuya frowned and narrowed his eyes at Aizen.

The dust cleared where Ichigo had fallen from Byakuya's attack. His clothing was torn and bloody, and his body covered with cuts and blood. He pulled himself slowly to his feet, and turned his gaze toward them, his eyes filled with fear. Then, in a weak voice that grunted with effort, he croaked, "Rukia…Byakuya…r-run…now…"

In a flash, he was upon them, raising his zanpakutou above his head and bringing it crashing upon them in a huge shock of reiatsu. Byakuya instantly grabbed Rukia and shunpoed to the side.

_Interesting. It seems that he is conscious of his actions when he is under control. _

He watched as Ichigo lumbered clumsily toward them, his body swaying in odd swerves, as if he was drunk. Awkwardly, he charged again, but Byakuya easily dodged him, still holding Rukia.

Ichigo, still trapped in the world of mirrors, glared at the image before him, his face covered with sweat as he struggled with all his might against his body's movements. His eyes did not leave the mirror. Though he knew that if he broke the contact, he could break out of Aizen's control, but then he couldn't be sure of his actions, and the last thing he wanted was to blindly kill Rukia or anyone else, especially if he wasn't being forced to do so.

His body shuddered from the two opposing forces working on it, Aizen's control, and Ichigo's will. His reiatsu rose and fell in spasms as he fought against Aizen's hold, and he thought that he could faintly hear Aizen's dark chuckle.

Byakuya dodged again and again Ichigo's clumsy strikes. He felt as if Ichigo was trying to hold himself back, because some strikes were weak and completely off the mark, while others were deadly. _He must be fighting it, _he thought.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the glint of a steel blade coming toward him. He instantly reacted by sidestepping to avoid Ichigo while swinging his blade out to intercept the other blade. Doing so, he saw the newcomer, and glared at him.

"Good reflexes," Aizen smirked. "However, you should be more aware of other threats."

Byakuya felt the slight reiatsu that told him that Ichigo was right behind him. He tried to move, but it was difficult with Aizen's blade locked against his. Ichigo swung his zanpakutou wildly, however, as though he was trying to swat at a fly, and Byakuya managed to avoid being hit and sidestep, causing Ichigo to nearly spear Aizen, had the man not moved away as well.

Aizen's smile widened slightly. Without hesitation, he began to attack Byakuya again. Ichigo also turned on him. Byakuya wove in and out of the two, defending himself against both attackers at the same time. The expression on his face did not change, and not once did he let worry cross his face.

He focused on Aizen, and merely pushing Ichigo away. However, that proved futile, as Ichigo got in his way more than often. Frustrated, he decided to not hold back any longer.

"Chire, Senbonzakura."

His blade burst into the cherry blossoms, flying around him and attacking both Ichigo and Aizen. The lethal cherry petals knocked both adversaries off there feet at the sudden, unexpected attack. Ichigo was thrown many feet away, while Aizen managed to regain his composure within seconds.

"Tricky, aren't you. But you realize your mistake? While in shikai, you no longer have the protection of a sword." Aizen looked absolutely bursting with triumph.

How Byakuya wanted to use all of his petals and mangle that smirk of the face of the man before him. He gathered his tiny blades, about to converge them into his sword again, when Aizen made a move.

"Hadou 1, Shou!"

Byakuya leapt into the air, wondering why on earth Aizen would use such a weak kidou, only to realize less than a second later that he'd fallen into Aizen's trap. Several arrancar immediately surrounded him as he leapt. "Hey, this looks like fun. Mind if we butt in?"

Angered, Byakuya sent the still released sakura petal blades at the arrancar around him. They were weak, and scattered immediately; screeching in pain, blood bursting from cuts. But Byakuya realized that he'd just fallen into a second trap, for suddenly, Ichigo appeared behind him, sword raised, and eyes wild in horror. There was no time to move or gather the sakura petals into one. No time for anything.

There was an explosion of dust and reiatsu that drew many eyes. Out of the dust, Byakuya was suddenly flying through the air, blood flying from a wound to the chest.

"Taichou!" Renji yelled as he saw his captain fly through the air. Byakuya, with a final burst of strength, flipped his body so that he landed a few feet away, skidding on the gathered reishi in the air. He went down on one knee, putting a hand out to steady himself, and another to his wound. His breathing became a little heavy. He coughed, and blood came from his mouth, staining his white silk scarf with crimson.

"Taichou!' Renji cried again, and was about to rush forward, when he too was struck flying through the air.

"Keep your eyes on your own opponent, boy!" the espada he was fighting growled. "Otherwise, you may just find yourself resembling less of a human, and more of mince meat!"

Renji fell on his back and skidded to a halt on the air. He pushed himself back up, glaring at the espada.

Byakuya got to his feet again. The wound to his chest was deep, but not as serious as it could have been. Ichigo had managed to sort of hit him more with the flat of his blade rather than right on, and he had been half leaping away when he was caught. His face still bore no distress, but he narrowed his eyes as he saw Ichigo and his next actions.

"Niisama!" Rukia cried out. _Damn it! _she thought. _He was just trying to protect me! _

She was just about to rush forward when a sudden shadow and black slur in front of her made her stop. She found Ichigo, still being controlled by Aizen, standing right in front of her.

"Ichigo…" she whispered, stunned by his sudden appearance, and unsure of what to do. Ichigo's eyes were wide in horror and his body's movements more jerky than ever.

He paused for a moment, his hand shaking from strain as he came toward her.

The next second, Rukia found her zanpakutou knocked out of her hand. It went spinning though the air, landing, blade down, in the rooftop of a building many feet below.

Rukia looked down at it in shock, then, just as quickly, snapped her attention back at Ichigo. Her eyes widened and she trembled to find his blade held, poised to pierce her broken heart. There was no time to move.

"That's right, Kurosaki Ichigo," Aizen said, as though it was not him making Ichigo do this in the first place. "Kill her. Kill Kuchiki Rukia, and then when you are done with her, kill every last one of them. Every last person who dared oppose me!"

The blade flashed.

Byakuya hissed. He was about to send Senbonzakura's blades at Ichigo, but he stopped himself, aware that his control wasn't very good at the moment due to his weak state, and anger. He may easily hit Rukia and hurt her as well. He began to rush forward, despite knowing within every fiber of his being that he would not be able to reach her in time.

"NOOOOO!!!!!" Ichigo screamed in his prison. He threw all his power and strength against the arm that was holding the blade that was about to end Rukia's life. He tried to force it to move, bending it away from the target. But the arm was unresponsive.

The blade plunged down. Rukia squeezed her eyes shut. Images flashed in front of her tightly closed eyes. Images of her life, from her time with Renji in Rukongai, to entering the shinigami academy, to being adopted by the Kuchiki family, to meeting Ichigo. She saw that time, during which she was almost executed. She saw Ichigo, getting stronger, risking everything, for her.

A tear leaked out of her eye. _Ichigo…_she thought. Her heart ached, and she saw him once again, smiling at her, his eyes caring. Of all the ways she had thought to die, she never imagined being killed by him, the one that she cared about with all her heart. The one that she…no, she couldn't think of that now.

"Aaaarrrrrggghhh!!!" Ichigo screamed out as he pushed against his body. He wanted to rip that arm off, kill himself, anything that it would take to save Rukia, for if he killed her, he could imagine no greater pain. With one final push against his body, he finally made an impact on his arm, bending its progress.

_Slash!_

The air was split by the sound of steel cutting through fabric and flesh. Rukia waited, but no pain came. The only thing she felt was a sudden drop of some sort of warm liquid hitting her cheek. Tentatively, she cracked an eye open, and was met by a shocking sight.

For there stood Ichigo, his arm twisted in a strange angle, as if it had changed direction halfway, changing the progress of his sword so that it had missed Rukia completely, and was instead lodged in his own stomach. Blood dripped from his wound and he stood still, eyes shadowed. Rukia's eyes were wide, and her mouth open slightly, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized what Ichigo must have done, and that drop of liquid on her face was Ichigo's blood.

Byakuya stopped himself, staring at Ichigo in utter shock as well, for once, an expression other than indifference upon his face.

Aizen's smirk faded for once. "How…" he snarled. His anger making him forget his control over Ichigo for a moment.

Ichigo, meanwhile, was triumphant, if only about the little he had to be triumphant about. But he knew that it wasn't over yet. For a moment, he was in that world which Zangetsu occupied, the world of buidings and standing on surfaces in ways that defied gravity. He saw Zangetsu, standing just in front of him. He gave him a nod, and said simply, "If you know what you need to protect and need to do, then go forth and do it without looking back."

He felt Aizen's control loosen and leave his body for the slightest second. In that second, despite his weariness, and despite his pain, he gathered as much reiatsu as he could. His whole body began to glow with reiatsu. He lifted his head, eyes filled with fierce determination as he gathered every last shred of energy within him. He put a hand on the hilt of his zanpakutou, and with a mighty battle cry, he ripped it from his body and released as did so the largest blast of reiatsu that he had ever released. The golden world of mirrors trembled, the mirrors beginning to crack, and the surrounding beginning to shake. He could feel Aizen hastily trying to regain control over him, but Ichigo wasn't going to be stopped.

He lifted his zanpakutou up and screamed, "GETSUGA…TENSHOU!"

The black blast of energy, shaped like a crescent moon, and larger than ever, shot forth from his blade. It crashed through the mirrors, shattering them upon impact, and sweeping the golden world away. The real surroundings came to his eyes, blurry at first, and then solidifying. He felt the last of Aizen's control vanish at last from his body.

The explosion rang through the air and sent waves of powerful reiatsu in every direction. The light from it drew many eyes, and they widened at the sight of it. Many hollows nearby were destroyed as soon as the reiatsu touched their bodies.

As the light faded, Ichigo felt his strength to remain standing leave his limbs. He'd spent all his strength for the moment, and he fell, unable to support himself any longer, to the roof of the building below. He just lay there, panting and not moving.

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out, wiping the blood and traces of tears from her face, and rushing down to his side, touching him gently on the shoulder. "Are you all right?"

He turned to face her. "Yeah, he panted softly. "I'm so sorry about that…"

Rukia shook her head. "Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault. She dashed from his side for a second and picked up her zanpakutou lodged in the roof a few feet away. Just as quickly, she dashed back to his side.

Byakuya and recomposed his expression. He gazed at Ichigo and Rukia, feeling relief course through him that Ichigo didn't kill Rukia. He also felt a sort of grudging respect and gratefulness for Ichigo at the extent he went to Rukia.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime shouted, about to go forward, but Uryu stopped her.

"He's fine, Orihime," he said quietly a little hint of sadness in his voice.

"Orhime looked at the quincy curiously. "Ishida-kun?"

"Just focus on the fight." He replied. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Orihime smiled slightly. She touched his arm gently. "I won't…because you're here, right?" She grinned at his startled expression, and turned to face the arrancar. Uryu smiled slightly, and took his place also.

Rukia helped Ichigo sit up slowly. She was relived, so relieved that Ichigo was back to his normal self, and that she was still alive.

However, the calm wasn't to last long.

* * *

End of another chapter! Sorry if it took to long, or wasn't done very well. I sort of started a week ago, and had to go away for a while and then came back to it. Also, I was sort of distracted while typing it by other stuff.

Grrr, still pissed off by the latest Bleach chapter. Of course, my friend will probably tell me that I was overreacting, but I knew something like this was going to happen after the last chapter. Oh well, I shall work harder on this story to distract me from it. Of course, for the sake of the Bleach storyline, the chapter was good, but I really got pissed that the capains, who are supposed to be so powerful, are not holding up. If you did like that chapter, please don't be offended by me.

I have edited the story a bit, but my editing skills aren't top notch, so I'm sorry for anymore typos and grammar mistakes. I have also added a tiny part with Zangetsu due to someone telling me that Ichgo usually enters his inner world when he stabs himself. I don't know if it's true, but I thought I'd add it anyways.

Thanks for all that read the story. I hope I'm not moving to fast, and I hope that you will like the story. Thanks to all that reviewed as well. I really appreciated.

I hope you didn't mind the bit of Ishihime and Ichiruki. I have a friend that is has a really scary obsession with Uryu, and so she supports Ishihime. My other friend also likes Ichiruki a lot, and so do I. I hope that it doesn't distract you. Please don't hate me just because of the pairings!

Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8 No Hope Left?

Just to tell you. I have leveled out the previous chapters out a bit, so this chapter was originally chapter 9.

On a side note to one reviewer (it was unsigned, so I couldn't reply), someone asked me whether Toushirou was Seiryuu, the dragon of the east. I admit I have heard of the Legend of the Four Guardians, but that hadn't been my intention when I wrote this. I was more playing of just thinking him as an ice Guardian, as his name implies, as well as Hyourinmaru. Of course, the idea of dragon does appeal, but Seiryuu is water, I think, so yeah. I don't really want to be like Fushigi Yuugi. I will explain it later, so now, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 8 No Hope Left?

"Well, well, Kurosaki Ichigo. I must admit I am quite impressed. You have actually managed to break out of my bankai. No one ever has before. I do commend you."

Ichigo turned away from Rukia to glare at Aizen as soon as he spoke. The evil traitor was striding toward him, quite recovered from the blow to his bankai, and once again smirking with some sort of glee that they didn't know the reason of.

"What now, Aizen?" Ichigo said, grinning at the ex-captain. "I've defeated your bankai. What else can you do?"

Aizen was unfazed. Instead, he just stopped a few feet from Ichigo and Rukia, still smirking.

"How sad. This war was a waste of energy and lives. So many have perished from both sides. Sometimes, it's as if we have lost the reason to fight. It's all about survival now, isn't it? I do commend Soul Society for its courage and perseverance in this battle. You were all exceptionally brave, willing to do anything, even die, to bring me down. I admire courage, but I am terribly sorry to say that it was all for naught. All of your efforts have been wasted."

"What are you going on about?" Ichigo snapped, his grin replaced by a frown. Something didn't feel right.

"There was a perfect way to end this. I really didn't want to use it, as it would be too easy. Besides, I wanted to see what Soul Society would try to do to stop me, so I humored you and made it seem like you had a chance. I didn't really want to resort to it at all, but you don't seem to want to cooperate, Kurosaki, so it can't be helped."

"What the hell are you going on about?!" Ichigo demanded again, his voice rising in volume, anger evident in it.

"You see, Kurosaki, I had intended to use you to destroy Soul Society, through my bankai. It was the easiest way, seeing as you are so powerful. It would have been much easier than to get my own hands dirty with the dirty work. However, since you don't agree, then I'll have to actually step up and take things into my own hands."

He paused for a moment as Ichigo glared at him with pure hatred.

"I'll tell you something else, Kurosaki. You may be quite confident now that you have defeated my bankai. But I will tell you now; my bankai is not my full power. No, in fact, considering that it is not even my full bankai, it is the least of it."

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock, and Rukia gasped. "What do you mean, 'not your full bankai'?" Ichigo asked, unsure if he had heard right.

"Kyouka Suigetsu does not wish to serve me," Aizen shrugged. "But that is beside the point. The point that I'm trying to make is, how could I have been the master of all the arrancar and espada if I didn't have more power than them?

"No, there _is _no way. That's just the way it is. A master must always have more power than the servant, and must be able to completely control them. So, in order to solve that problem, as soon as I had possession of the Hougyoku, I used it on myself so that I removed nearly all the boundaries of shinigami. I am undoubtedly the first shinigami to have such a thing done to them, and I must tell you now, the level of power increase is much more than that of using it on a hollow.

"I have not even began to show you my power yet, but you will need to wait no longer."

Aizen's whole body began to glow with reiatsu, and the pressure in the air suddenly rose dramatically. The air seemed to have changed from gas to solid, and weighted down on them all heavily, causing all to suddenly gag and pant for the little air that could still make its way to their lungs.

"What's happening?!" asked many.

"Aizen-sama is about to ascend his highest plane of power," the espada that was fighting Renji proclaimed, a smirk plastered over his face, and an air of absolute triumph and pleasure at Renji's shock about him.

"And once he does…" said the arrancar that faced Matsumoto, leering at her upside down, while she glowered at him.

"…You will _all _be destroyed completely," the female arrancar told Izuru.

"There's just one little catch though," Aizen continued, looking down at Ichigo and Rukia, both of which were struggling just to look him in the eye. "I pushed away most of my limits, but not all. To push away this last limit, there is only one way-to gain new power. And right now, the only way to gain power…is to absorb the Hougyoku itself. It, and the power that it carries."

"What?!" Ichigo gasped, stunned, while Rukia's eyes widened in shock.

"He's going to _what!?_" Kyouraku exclaimed, just catching Aizen's last words as the fight took him close to him.

"Absorb the Hougyku," Urahara, who had just appeared nearby, slashing down another menos, replied grimly. "The Hougyku removes the barrier between shinigami and hollows, thus allowing one to remove one's many limits of their abilities. But it also carriers much of its own power, power that I had to put add in order to have it work. If Aizen is to absorb it all, then his power will be nearly limitless. All the worlds around us, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and even the human world, all will be at his disposal. He may destroy them all."

Several people nearby, including Soi Fon, Ukitake, and Hisagi looked on with shock and perhaps even fear. The vaizards that were nearby only wore grim expressions on their faces, knowing all too well the kind of power that could come from this, and not surprised really at the possible increase of power above normal hollowfication.

"Too bad you won't live long enough to even witness it happening though," Stark suddenly spoke up. "I'm going to kill you all now."

Kyouraku turned his attention back to Stark. "Oh really? You want to get serious again? All right then, what if I used…bankai"

Ukitake, seeing what his friend was about to do, shunpoed out of the way. The others followed his example.

"Isn't there anyway to stop Aizen?" Hisagi demanded of Yoruichi, who was nearby.

"Not that I know of, except to kill him at this time," she replied, while killing the weaker arrancar with ease, though not as much as she would have if the pressure in the air weren't weakening her. Soi Fon was following her once-mentor's actions, but because she had already been weak, was suffering more. She refused to give up though.

"That's easier said than done!" Kensei, appearing suddenly just as he finished off his opponent, stated. He had no air of victory about him, even at his success. "His power will be great. So great, I believe, that I don't think there will be anything that can even compare to it. Removal of one's limits increases one's power exponentially, but if Aizen is to absorb even more power after that and gain new power, than I think we would have great trouble finding anything to match it in this world. What we would need would be something otherworldly, something Heavenly, to even halt him, and-"

"This isn't the time for legends!" Soi Fon suddenly screamed at him, all the dignity and self-control she possessed discarded as she fought. "I have never seen a Heavenly Guardian! There has never been one that has truly awakened, so I'm not going to waste energy putting my hopes into one suddenly appearing!"

There was an almost savage look to her face, and invited no one to challenge her. Ukitake, who had heard her outburst a distance away, kept silent as he fended of his own arrancar. He knew what Soi Fon was thinking, and he too felt a pang of regret as he thought of the young captain that had been rumored to be the present reincarnation. He himself had felt his power, but no one could be sure. Yet even if he was, he was far from being able to help. Ukitake didn't want to admit it, but he was unsure if the prodigy was even still breathing.

"You can't be serious!" Ichigo screamed at Aizen.

"Kurosaki, I have never been more serious in my life. But since you still seem to doubt my words, I suppose I'll use action to convince you."

Aizen reached inside his robes, and slowly drew from them the small sphere, slightly pulsating with power, that was the Hougyku. The barrier that had surrounded it had gone, and the power it emanated nearly crushed Ichigo and his companions. It was certainly strong.

Aizen placed small black sphere against his chest. "Kurosaki Ichigo…you will be the first to taste my whole power."

The Hougyoku began to glow, spewing out huge bursts of reiatsu that hit the surroundings, causing the fake buildings to shake and crumble. The air became even more dense, causing even people like Zaraki, who had tremendous reiatsu, to feel crushed.

Ichigo, grunting with effort against the pressure, forced his head up to see Aizen. The Hougyoku was surrounded by waves of black reiatsu. To his utter shock and horror, they seemed to open a hole at Aizen's chest. Aizen pushed the small sphere into the hole.

The next thing he knew, it was Aizen who was emanating the reiatsu. The surroundings shook and crumbled even more.

But it went even further than that. In Soul Society, where the few shinigami remaining were patrolling and the innocent and ignorant citizens of Rukongai were milling around, spending another seemingly ordinary day, the world suddenly began to shake. Buildings crumbled, and intense pressure shot throughout the air like a strong wind, causing the souls of Rukongai to faint and the shinigami to yell in shock. It didn't end there though. Portals ripped open at random intervals throughout Soul Society, through which hollows of all sizes, shapes, and power poured into the area.

The shinigami cried out in horror, as they to entered battle against the hollows. Ise Nanao, who was leading some of the eighth division officers, struggled to remain calm. Though she seemed completely untroubled on the outside, inside, her heart was pounding quickly and loudly in her chest. _What happened? Are they all right? Are these just random hollows attacking or are they here because they lost. They couldn't have lost! Taichou…_

The shinigami fought desperately, all wondering the same thing. They kept fighting though, despite the fear they felt as they watched the world around them shake and crumble.

In Hueco Mundo it was almost no different. The white sands were whipped up in fierce storms. The dessert shook, and the bare quartz trees that littered the landscape crumbled, their fragile branches no match for the powerful reiatsu that ripped through the place, succumbing to the power and breaking, turning to dust. Even the enormous deserted palace of Las Noches succumbed to the power, its walls of reishi breaking down. The only difference between here and Soul Society was that there was almost no one present to exclaim at the destruction.

The destruction reached even the human world. The world had also begun to shake. The ignorant humans there though that a massive earthquake was upon them and scurried to hide undercover. The buildings quaked violently, and began to deteriorate as well. Most were in utter shock and horror, and couldn't figure out how for the life of them that the buildings were crumbling to dust before their very eyes and people were being ripped out by an seemingly invisible force, while those select few that had high levels of reiatsu were frozen in fear as grotesque monsters, looking like beings from your worst nightmares and worse, ripped into the environment, tearing apart the inhabitants and devouring them.

Even in the real Karakura town, still stationed in Rukongai, the powerful reiatsu had roused some of the inhabitants, the ones with stronger reiatsu. Their world began to shake as well.

"Ahhhh!" Keigo screamed as he saw the hollows! "The monsters! And there's no Ichigo or weird Afro dudes or bald guys to save us this time! And why's everyone unconscious?" he said, looking from side to side frantically, shaking his head like a dog trying to get water out of its ears. "Oh, what do I do? What do I do?"

"Fight them yourself, you idiot!" came a thoroughly annoyed voice. Keigo turned to see Tatsuki standing (or trying to though the shaking) over him, arms crossed. She was accompanied by Mizuiro, who gave Keigo a weak smile. "We can't always depend on Ichigo. We have to help ourselves! That's what the weird hat-wearing guy told us to do, right? He said to play our part, so I guess it's to protect the town while Ichigo and anyone else that can help are away!"

Though she made it sound as though it was no big deal, inwardly, she was scared. Scared beyond any fear she'd ever had. There were so many monsters. She didn't know how they were going to beat them.

_And I wonder, where is Orihime? Did Ichigo save her? What's going on? And just how are we going to get out of this?_

Just as she got to that thought, there came from behind her, "Taattssuukkii! How nice to know that you're up and active too!"

She turned in shock to see none other than Kurosaki Isshin, wearing the same black kimono that she'd seen Ichigo wear, only with a ripped piece of what seemed to be a white haori over one arm. He drew the sword at his side, saying, "Let us get the powerful ones though. You're no match for them."

"Us?" Keigo asked in shock, especially at seeing Ichigo's father wearing the clothing he was wearing. "Who's 'us'?"

"Me, myself, and I!" Isshin managed to proclaim proudly before quickly dodging to the side with a cry, hair rising as though it had been electrocuted, a horrified expression on his face, as a dangerous blue bolt shot right into the ground where he'd stood moments before. Keigo screeched and jumped back as well, while Tatsuki and Mizuiro gasped in shock.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! It was just a joke!" Isshin said, turning to apologize behind him.

"You'll never act your age, will you? It's a wonder you ever became a captain," came another voice, and there, just behind Isshin, stood none other than the owner of the Karakura hospital, Ishida Ryuken.

"Well, my replacement is pretty mature you know. That should please you, if you cared at all. Anyways, Ishida and I will take care of the big ones," Isshin continued. "You guys stay back with the kids." He grinned as Karin, Yuzu, Jinta and Ururu, who were rushing toward them.

"Dad!" Karin shouted above the noise of the crumbling town. "What the heck is going on? And those clothes…are you a shinigami?"

"Karin, my dear daughter, As soon as the time is right, daddy will tell you the whole story, but lets wait till bedtime, 'kay?"

Karin gave him a scathing look, but Jinta said. "The mustache dude 's right! It's war right now, and they're loosing. Just go along with it, damn it!"

"What's going on here exactly?" Tatsuki demanded.

"Well well, it would appear we're in Soul Society," Isshin said. "They must have moved us here to protect us, but the Hollows are attacking Soul Society now, so I guess it's up to us. Well, Ishida, let's finish this quickly so we can go help the others."

Ryuken gave him a cold look. "Just because I'm helping you this time, does not mean you should get used to it, Isshin. I'm only doing this in the interests of the living that can die. Other than that, I still have no interest in quincies."

Isshin grinned. "Yeah, yeah, you say that."

The members of Karakura, if they were able, entered combat as well.

Ichigo clenched his fists against the pressure. He was kneeled on the ground, gasping for breath. Rukia lay beside him, also suffering greatly from the pressure.

Out of the dust and reiatsu that surrounded Aizen, black, lethal crystal-like branches suddenly shot out, not unlike the trees of Hueco Mundo, only many times thicker and stronger, as well as being black in color. They plunged to the ground, implanting into the concrete of the ground and buildings alike. The dust cleared, revealing Aizen, sitting upon a throne of dark granite supported by the branches. Though at the moment, he appeared to have no physical difference, they could all feel the massive power that rolled off of him in huge, strong, unrelenting waves. His face was filled with triumphant victory.

He leant casually to the side of his throne, his head resting on one hand. "My, the power is even better than I'd imagined."

"Why you…" Ichigo gasped.

"You see, Kurosaki? You cannot defeat me. The Gotei 13 cannot defeat me. I am at the top, and all beings, all matter, is at my disposal. Even all the worlds are crumbling just from my reiatsu. The barriers between the worlds are deteriorating, and my hollows can easily go about, dispatching resistance. In that way, imposing my will upon you is a simple matter. There is nothing in the world that can challenge me now."

As the shinigami watched, hollows were ripping through the shaking atmosphere, some leaving, and some returning with an air of satisfaction abut them that made Ichigo feel sick in the stomach at what they must have just done. "Why you! I'll show you!" Ichigo lifted his zanpakutou and, fighting against Aizen's reiatsu, he charged at Aizen.

"Ichigo! No!" Rukia screamed, but he didn't listen. All he felt was boiling rage at the man that leered at him. He felt a raging need, a need to kill, to destroy this man and gain revenge upon all that he's done. He let out a low growl in his throat and charged at Aizen.

Yet suddenly, he found a hand at his throat. His eyes widened in shock, and looked down at it. Aizen's arm had twisted into a long grotesque shape and his fingers were curled around Ichigo's windpipe, blocking the air from access to his lungs. The arm lifted Ichigo easily into the air, while the orange haired shinigami gasped, trying in vain to get air into his lungs, his hands scrabbling futilely at the iron grip of Aizen's hands.

Pain suddenly exploded in his stomach as a sudden crystal branch pierced into his stomach, the force of it pushing him out of Aizen's grip painfully and sending him crashing into one of the thicker branches below. He lay there, his body feeling completely broken and beaten.

"Ichigo! Ahh!" Rukia screamed as a branch suddenly came toward her. She leapt up to dodge it, but it bent with her progress, following her as she moved. The tip of it blossomed into many smaller branches, rather like tree branches, except that the branched moved, rather like the long, ghastly fingers of a hag. They clamped down on her body, like a set of claws, pinning her arms to her sides. The sharpened tip pierced into her flesh, and she winced as she too was thrown heavily down.

Byakuya rushed forward, but he didn't make it far before he too was met with a forest of thin crystal branches. His lips were pressed in a grim line as he slashed through them, shattering them. But just as it was with the espada that he'd fought, there were just too many of them. As he slashed through a mass of them, another horde of them snuck up behind him, moving so fast that he didn't even see them, and in a flash, they bent, turning flexible as though they were rubber, and quickly wound themselves around his limbs, immobilizing them. Just as quickly as they had turned soft, they hardened, turning into what seemed like stones ropes. He was thrown down as well.

All around them, the people that were against Aizen suddenly found themselves pursued by the crystal branches. Most were captured immediately, and the few that managed to get away were overtaken by the remaining arrancar. And so entered a fierce battle of dodge and be killed by the arrancar, or be captured by Aizen. Unfortunately, neither option was preferable.

Ulquiorra, having just been about to finish his opponent, felt sudden sharp crystal stab into many places on his body. He looked back, his face impassive, and saw the branches that now connected to his body. They shot through him, and as soon as he did, and their tips twisting around to curl around his body, denying him of further movement. The expression on his face did not change, and he didn't try to resist, knowing that it was useless. He just turned and stared emotionlessly at the espada, who just looked back, equally emotionless.

Nel was a different story. When she was captured, she squirmed and snarled at her opponent, who was jeering at her. She released huge bursts of reiatsu, but the branches would not budge.

Matsumoto and Izuru were captured halfway though their fight as well. Their adversaries laughed and leapt away, disappearing in a flash of sonido, leaving the two lieutenants in their fury.

Kyouraku, who had just begun to overpower Stark, managed to dodge the branches. He managed to effectively avoid the lethal crystal coming after him as well as fight Stark at the same time. But it wasn't for long. Stark suddenly took on the offensive, shocking Kyouraku for a moment and pushing him back, and straight into a mass of black crystal, which quickly tangled around his arms.

"Well, well, that was low," he said casually as he struggled to break free.

"War isn't supposed to be fair, my good friend," Stark replied, grinning at Kyouraku.

Even Yamamoto seemed to have fallen to the dangerous branches. No matter how much flame and reiatsu the man emitted, the branches did not budge. All to soon, even the ones who had escaped were somehow pushed into the tangles of black crystal. No one was spared, it appeared, and no one escaped.

Aizen let out a dark laugh, as he lifted them all so that he may see them better, though he kept them carefully so that they were just below him. "You know, this is just the beginning."

The branches began to glow, and suddenly, everyone felt the strength drain from them. It felt as if it was literally being sucked out of their bodies. And they were probably right. Exhaustion spread throughout their ranks, and soon, most were hanging limply against their bonds.

"Wha-" Kyouraku said as his bankai dissolved as his energy left his body. The glowing branches seemed to bee feeding this energy to Aizen, as he had begun to glow with reiatsu. He lifted his head, relishing in the influx of power.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, the draining stopped, leaving them all panting for breath.

"Ahh," Aizen sighed in satisfaction. "Yes, what a wonderful feeling. You are all curious, I don't doubt, as to what just happened. You see, these "branches are in a way a part of my body. Through them, I am able to suck out not only your reiatsu, but your very life force as well. You cannot break free from them. They take a tremendous amount of power to break, and that, unfortunately for you, is something, which you don't have at the moment. Besides, even if you did somehow miraculously break from them, you are now so drained that you can't even hope to fight me, let alone defeat me."

"You sick bastard!" yelled Hiyori from where she was trapped. She was waving her arms at him, her face contorted with rage.

Shinji looked equally ticked, though he exercised much more self control. "Aizen, you have really gone to far."

"Oh really, _taichou, _and what are _you _going to do about it?" Aizen said, looking around mockingly. As he did, he saw in full the effects of what had just happened. All around him, Soul Society's ranks had fallen to the dangerous branches. They were all breathless from the terrible drain. And more tragic still, some of the weaker shinigami, especially the severely wounded, who had little life force left, had all their remaining life force drained from them, and were left nothing more than dead, their broken forms held limply in the grip of the branches.

Shinji didn't say anything at first, only looked steadily at Aizen. "Oh, you'll see, Aizen. You'll never make the Royal Key. Something will stop you."

Aizen gave him a sad look. "Actually, Hirako-taichou, that is where you're both right and mistaken. I will never make the Royal Key, that is true, but the reason is because I never intended to make one. I had heard of it, but I felt no need to make one. However, I did go to the trouble of laying the bait there for you all, leaving my reiatsu in the Great Spirit Library's archives, in the section on the creation of the Royal Key, where I knew that whoever looked would find it. I led you all to go into panic and try to save this pathetic town, but in truth, you were all fooled. You have merely wasted your energies trying to protect this town, which in the end was useless. Shall I tell you all why?" He paused for dramatic effect. No one answered him. They all knew that it wasn't a question. "I ask you, why would I want to, or need to, if now, without much effort, I am going to turn all the worlds to dust? What is the point of creating a key to the king's realm if I will be turning it to dust?"

"Why do you want to in the first place?" Renji snarled. "What will you accomplish by that?"

Aizen smirked. "Simple. I will merge all the worlds into one. From the dust, I will raise a new world, comprised of all the worlds, of which I shall rule alone."

"I…won't let you!" came a weak voice. Aizen looked down, frowning slightly at Ichigo, who had pushed himself partly up. He awkwardly picked up his zanpakutou, which had been lying a foot away, and with a furious slash, he managed to shatter the branch impaling him.

There were gasps of astonishment, while Ichigo painfully pushed himself to his feet again. He raised his head slowly, eyes blazing with determination and fury as he glared into Aizen's. "I won't let you go through with any of your sick plans! You'll have to get through me if that's what you want!"

Aizen was unfazed. No. If possible, he seemed just more amused, and as if he'd been expecting this. "Oh really now?"

From her position far away, Momo stared at the scene in horror. She had been lucky so far, for she was far away enough that the arrancar didn't find her, and the Kyoumon had protected her. However, that didn't raise her mood. In fact, on the contrary, it made her feel even worse. _No! _she thought _I can't just hide here while everyone is suffering over there! It's wrong! I must go and help, but…_

Momo looked down at the boy who lay on her lap, his body completely still and cold. His breath was so shallow that it was as if it wasn't there at all. His bloodless face was contrasted by the crimson liquid splattered on his pale cheeks. She wasn't sure whether it was her imagination or not, but he seemed to be almost in even worse condition (if that was possible) then when he first fell unconscious. It seemed that death was seconds away for the young captain.

Tears gathered in Momo's eyes. She thought of the last words he'd said to her before leaving for the battle.

Flashback

_"Hinamori?"_

_Momo, who had been looking out the window, turned in shock to see Toushirou, Hyourinmaru strapped to his back, and standing behind her. Usually, she'd have shrieked and began ranting about how he always sneaks up on her, but right now, she was feeling to down to do much more than widen her eyes in surprise and murmur, "Hitsugaya-kun…"_

_He shook his head. "It's Hitsugaya-taichou, remember?" when she didn't answer, he sighed and said, "Never mind. I just came to say goodbye."_

_He looked at her carefully as she nodded, her face displaying no emotion. He sighed, a sad look in his eyes. It was obvious that he still thought that she believed Aizen to be good. He turned to leave. "Well, bye then. We're going into battle with Aizen, and they could end up here." She watched her carefully as he said that name, but her face didn't change. "But…I'm sure we'll manage. Just promise me something though." He paused, then said, "Don't put yourself in unnecessary danger, Momo. Please, don't do anything rash."_

_As he was about to leave, he heard a small, "Okay. Be careful, Toushirou."_

End flashback.

That was the last time she had seen him still in perfect health. The last promise that she'd made. She also thought of her promise to Matsumoto.

_Please, just be there for Taichou…_

Gently, her arms shaking slightly, she picked up his cold form, and hugged it tightly to her body. She buried her face in his soft, silver hair, Her whole body began to tremble in grief and she cried without restraint, her tears wetting his silky locks, some stained red with his own blood.

"I'm sorry, Rangiku-san. I'm sorry, Hitsugaya-kun. I have to break my promises."

After one last hug, she forced herself to gently release her hold on him and set him down gently upon the roof of the building they were on. She stood, giving him one last sad look. He lay there, unmoving and alone, looking small and vulnerable, increasing Momo's guilt of leaving him like this. "Goodbye…Shirou-chan…" she whispered as she turned away, and as she did, her eyes missed the layer of frost that had begun to gather around his body, and begun to spread.

She lifted her head, eyes blazing with determination, know full well that what she was about to do was suicide. But her mind was made up. She _will _not sit by and watch her friends and comrades get killed like this.

She lifted her hands, and instantly shattered the kyoumon that surrounded them. She was a kidou master, and the kyoumon had been weakening as Matsumoto and Izuru were weakening, thus this was a simple feat for her. She walked forward, her steps steady and unfaltering, despite her wounds. After a few steps, she turned and cast her own kyoumon around Toushirou. Whatever may happen, she refused to let anything more happen to his body.

Momo drew her zanpakutou. "Aizen," she said, dropping the taichou, and her voice no longer bearing any of the affection and admiration that it used to carry. "You are no longer my captain, or anyone's captain. What you've done is unforgivable, and you are only a traitor that deserves to die.

She had realized this, as soon as she had opened her eyes from the sleep induced by Yamamoto after her conversation with Toushirou. She realized the absurdity of her request. Aizen had stabbed her, yet she still believed in him? It had hurt to admit it, but she couldn't deny the truth. She didn't really try to show her realization though, just withdrew, and kept to herself. But secretly, she'd been training for a confrontation like this one.

_Actually, I had started training years ago, ever since Shirou-chan became a captain. I felt really behind then. So I trained really hard. And in that time after I realized Aizen's true nature, and everyone else was training, I trained even harder, in secret. I have finally mastered it to a passable degree. I wanted to keep it a secret a while longer, but I really have no choice now._

Reiatsu began to manifest around her, first pink, then darkening to an intense violet. Her eyes flashed, and then began to glow slightly as well. She felt power bubbling inside of her, and Tobiume almost quiver in anticipation.

"Bankai! Kouten no Tobiume!"

Violet rays of reiatsu burst from her zanpakutou and her body. Her eyes were tinted with violet at the edges from her rising reiatsu. A shimmering pink haori, seemingly made from silk as delicate as a flower petal, but as strong as the firm rots of a plum tree, rested on her shoulders. She flexed her hands, getting used to the pale pink Tekko (see notes) that covered them. She gripped the hilt of her transformed zanpakutou (note, I have no idea what it would look like yet, so if I get any good ideas, then I'll put it in), and raised it. As she did, hundreds large, violet energy spheres, not unlike Tobiume's usual ones, save for the color, and violet tendrils of reiatsu rose up around her. Fluttering among them were scraps of pink reishi that almost resembled plum petals. With a cry, she sent all of them flying at Aizen.

They moved fast, so fast that for a moment, it eluded sight as they zoomed at Aizen. When they made contact, they hit the branches at places that no one anticipated, with force and power ten times stronger than Tobiume's usual attacks. Some of the thinner branches of crystal chattered upon impact, but the larger ones barely shook. Some of the hollows perished as they got in the way, and arrancar were wounded, but overall, it hadn't caused that much damage. However, it did raise shock throughout all the shinigami, particularly the ones who knew her well.

"Oh my, this was unexpected," Aizen said. "I had no idea that my lieutenant had managed to achieve bankai. I wish I could congratulate her, for she has certainly come a long way, but unfortunately, I don't have the time."

His eyes flickered to the new ninth and tenth espada. "Antonio, Sebastian, you should be able to take care of her."

"Yes sir!"

Momo saw the espada coming. She knew that they were strong, but she stood her ground. _I will not back down. I will not fail, for everyone, for all my friends, Rangiku-san, Kira-kun, Abarai-kun, and mostly, Shirou-chan._

_I will not break, even if it's just for him._

_

* * *

_

I hope that the concepts in this chapter are acceptable, or at least you can bear them. I was sort of brain dead when I wrote this, I think, so yeah.

And Momo's bankai, well, I didn't like how she always seemed so weak, so I wanted to make her stronger. Kouten no Tobiume means "Heaven's flying Plum" or something to that effect. I wasn't feeling very original when I wrote it, so it's not really interesting like Aizen's bankai was, but as bankai does follow shikai's theme, I couldn't think of anything, and the same thing happened with the name. So please forgive me! If you have any ideas, feel free to message me, and I might change it later. Tekko are a sort of arm protectors that's like a sort of cloth wrapped around your hand. It's the purple cloth things that Miroku from Inuyasha wears over his wind tunnel.

Oh, and for the espada, I was studying _The Tempest _when I first wrote this, and while trying to find a name, these two names kept popping up. So, for lack of a better name, I went with them. Sebastian is the tenth, because he isn't as smart as Antonio in _The Tempest, _and Antonio the ninth, cause he's smarter. But I hate them both, so yeah.


	9. Chapter 9 The Heavenly Guardian

**STOP IMMEDIATELY. BEFORE YOU READ, PLEASE READ THIS NOTE!**

Note: Yesterday, I edited the chapters a bit and combined two of the shorter chapters, and moved all the chapters up a bit. The reason was that when I was doing chapter 9, it got way to long. So chapter 8 was originally chapter 9. I suggest you all check it now and see if you've read the chapter. It will only take five seconds!

* * *

Chapter 9 The Heavenly Guardian

The air was once again filled with the sound of clashing blades and ice on ice. Only this time, Toushirou was on the offensive.

He fought with grim determination. He could tell that Hyourinmaru was surprised at this sudden change, but wasted no time to think of it.

After another ferocious sparring match, Hyourinmaru managed to back away from his attack for a moment. "Well, this is a surprise," the man said, panting slightly, and Toushirou felt satisfaction that he'd gotten him to feel tired. "But you're still holding yourself back. Are you still in doubt?"

"No, except that I doubt that you can truly withstand it if I went full out. If what you said is true, then I might hurt you." Toushirou said this with no trace of arrogance, just quiet curiosity.

"Hmph. Stop fearing for me, Toushirou. I am a part of you. You cannot destroy me unless you destroy yourself. But while you hold back, I am liable to destroy you still. Even if I am a part of your soul, I am still a dragon, and a dragon always seeks freedom, and will only recognize a master if he was to master it."

Toushirou paused, pondering on this. His quick mind working fast to understand what Hyourinmaru was trying to say. To master a dragon is not easy. He learnt that when he was trying to beat him into submission. A dragon does not take being beaten down well. They were proud, and will only recognize defeat if they can do it with dignity. The only way to do that is to lose to someone that was in every aspect stronger than them.

With a sudden realization, Toushirou realized that he was very similar to this concept himself. He had pride, and it was something he didn't shed easily. He refused to ever acknowledge defeat, unless it was definitely to something he couldn't dream to beat. Hyourinmaru was not something he couldn't beat. He must master the dragon, and at the same time, master himself. He must force himself to be like the dragon. He must shed all doubt, for if a dragon does not doubt, he cannot doubt or hold back. A dragon doesn't give up until defeat. The only way to finish this is to beat him, to show the dragon who was master.

And the only way to master a dragon is to be like the dragon. The only way that _he _can beat Hyourinmaru is to acknowledge that he is like a dragon, in more aspects than one. And the only way to beat him, is to fly on his own, and fly _above _the dragon.

"I see," he said softly, tensing his muscles. His body's pains seemed to be insignificant. He could feel it. It was time. "If you say so. I won't hold back."

Toushirou let out a growl and leapt toward Hyourinmaru again. Hyourinmaru waved his sword, sending a wave of ice and water at Toushirou. With a cry and a swing of his ice blade, he threw all his power against the ice, shattering it. He did not hesitate after his victory, but continued on, heart pounding with exhilaration and adrenaline rushing though his body at finally releasing himself from holding back.

Hyourinmaru's eyes widened. He leapt in shock as Toushirou's blade came crashing down on him, his reiatsu sending waves of water and ice scattering. He swung down on him again, and again, each swing filled with deadly control and power.

The blades clashed together again, and with a push, the two sprang apart. Toushirou, acting purely on intuition and chance, plunged his blade into the icy ground, gathering reiatsu within himself and manifesting it around him as waves of water and ice. He felt satisfaction at using his reiatsu like this, without restrain, and suddenly, the water and ice shot from their place surrounding him and moved, with astounding speed, at Hyourinmaru, who leapt into the air, using the reishi in it as purchase for his feet, dodging from side to side to avoid the water, which froze into lethal ice mid-motion, and melted back to water again when it missed him. He narrowed his eyes as he slashed at it, for the moment concentrated solely on it.

Toushirou almost smiled. It was what he had wanted.

Hyourinmaru suddenly noticed that Toushirou had vanished. His senses alert, he wrapped his wings around him not a second to soon, the ice effectively producing a shield that protected him from the sudden onslaught of sharp ice shards that battered his body, and the deadly ice blade that was about to stab him.

Toushirou was unfazed. He hadn't fully expected Hyourinmaru to not notice him, but he did have another plan. Gripping his sword hard, he slashed furiously on the wings that protected Hyourinmaru. For a moment, it was as if nothing had come of it, then, with a crack, the wings shattered, revealing a thoroughly shocked Hyourinmaru.

"A dragon doesn't hide. That's what I've learnt, anyhow," Toushirou said, a small smirk on his face.

Hyourinmaru smirked too. "I see you take everything to heart. Don't get too confident early though." As soon as the words left his lips, the wings grew back, every bit as perfect as before. Toushirou knew that it would happen, but he also knew that he had just succeeded in pushing Hyourinmaru a bit further, now that he could shatter his ice wings.

Hyourinmaru didn't stay put for long, soon, he was flying up into the air again, turning his sword in a ninety-degree angle counter clockwise. Toushirou knew that the attack usually took a long time to prepare, so though he wasn't doubtful that Hyourinmaru could pull it off, he knew that it would be weaker.

"Sennen Hyoro," Hyourinmaru said.

Pillars of ice shot up around Toushirou, who knew that he didn't have enough time to dodge. Instead, he focused his energy in his sword, and before the last pillar could successfully finish forming, he surrounded his blade with his own reiatsu, giving it more power, and swung it in a circle, causing all the pillars to crack. Another swing shattered the pillars.

For a moment, he saw Hyourinmaru's eyes. They were serious, and if they were shocked, Toushirou couldn't tell. Then the man vanished, and Toushirou leapt into the air to avoid the crash of his blade in the spot where he had been. Without waiting, Toushirou sent another wave of water and ice at Hyourinmaru, who merely swung his blade into an arc at him, saying coldly, "Gucho Tsurara."

Toushirou dodged the flock of ice daggers, but Hyourinmaru wasn't done. The man was upon him again, slashing hard at him with strong blows that Toushirou only just blocked. After a few minutes of this, Hyourinmaru leapt back, sending Gucho Tsurara at Toushirou again. This time, Toushirou didn't move, but with expert skill shattered each and every dagger of ice that shot at him. He narrowed his eyes at Hyourinmaru, knowing that he wasn't going to hold back either as he charged at him.

"You're resolute," Hyourinmaru said, as they locked blades once again. Toushirou gave a grunt as an answer. He wasn't going to waste breath confirming the obvious. He slashed with his sword, sending ice shooting toward Hyourinmaru along with the blow. Hyourinmaru managed to dodge the blade, but the ice managed to freeze his arm. He let out a burst of reiatsu that shattered the ice.

He faced Toushirou again; his breathe much more heavy now. Toushirou wasn't clever for nothing. He was using little things like that to force him to use his reiatsu. Hyourinmaru knew that Toushirou wouldn't rest long. Tensing his body, Hyourinmaru leapt, flying high, flying faster than Toushirou could shunpo, giving him time.

Toushirou followed the man, having a good suspicion of what he was up too. His suspicions were confirmed when He saw the sky darken as the clouds rolled in, thunder roaring ominously. _Tenso Jurin. He isn't going…is he?_

Hail and snow began to rain down around him, and fierce winds began pick up, battering his small form. He managed to force his eyes open and look through the wind and ice at Hyourinmaru. He saw in that moment what Hyourinmaru was about to do.

"Hyoten Hyakkaso."

Toushirou knew what was coming. He could see the giant hole beginning to open in the sky. Any moment now, he knew that the deadly snow would rain down. If any touched him…he didn't want to think about it.

He saw the first flakes of snow fall. Several more flakes followed it. They were battered this way and that by the hail and wind. One or two of them hit pieces of hail and burst into bloom. This gave him an idea.

Without really thinking, as there was no time at all to think, he gathered his reiatsu again. Waves of water rose around him, curving around him and freezing to ice. Just ice the first flakes of snow was about to hit him, the last arc water over his head froze to ice. The flakes hit the circular barrier of ice, bursting into bloom.

From his position a little ways of, Hyourinmaru watched as the tower of ice formed. He wondered what Toushirou had done. He hadn't been able to see through the snow, but he knew that the boy had been up to something, because he'd felt his rise in reiatsu.

A sudden explosion jolted him out of his train of thought. His eyes widened in shock as the ice tower suddenly exploded, scattering ice in every direction. He saw for a moment before the rest of the structure had collapsed how the ice that had encased Toushirou only reached about a meter from him, growing in perfect curves on a layer of ice. _So, that's what he did…_

Toushirou paused for a moment to gather his energy. Then, gathering for a moment reishi beneath his feet, he leapt at Hyourinmaru, pushing the limits of speed that he'd already achieved before this as he shunpoed toward Hyourinmaru. He appeared for a moment behind Hyourinmaru, sending waves of ice at the man. Hyourinmaru turned immediately to block the attack, realizing just to late what Toushirou's plan had been. Toushirou had vanished again, and this time, over the howling wind, Hyourinmaru could not sense where he was. He turned when he suddenly felt his reiatsu behind him, only not ready to see that Toushirou was so close. Before he could do anything more than blink in surprise, Toushirou lashed out with his blade of ice at such an angle and knocked Hyourinmaru's blade out of his hand.

Toushirou vanished again as Hyourinmaru, reacting instinctively, lashed out with his tail. He appeared behind the man, and this time not holding back, he slashed his sword as hard as he could across his back.

The ice wings shattered, this time broken beyond quick regeneration. In fact, Hyourinmaru had a large gash down his back, and seemed severely shaken. Though he did not bleed (and Toushirou really didn't expect him too, because he was an ice dragon after all) his body shuddered. Hyourinmaru turned his head, giving Toushirou a look, before leaping away from him, flipping through the air. Water and ice began to gather around his body, and Toushirou distinctively saw ice cover his wound to the back. The ice raced down Hyourinmaru's body, and continued, twisting and forming into the wings and powerful tail of his dragon self. In a moment, he had once again resumed his lithe, powerful dragon form. Toushirou did not hesitate, but merely dodged as the dragon's tail came lashing out at him. He immediately took his chance and leapt onto the dragon's tail. Swiftly, he shunpoed up the icy body, avoiding the dragon's head as it coiled back to attack, it's lethal jaws that would have surely crushed him missing him by inches. He balanced, and clung onto the spikes of the dragon's body as it twisted and rolled in the air, trying to throw him off without success. He leapt high in the air as the dragon's giant wings tried to smother him, and landed again just ahead and out of reach of them. Getting up again, he continued.

The dragon's roared, and Toushirou could feel vibrations deep in his chest. The icy body gave off cold so intense that is made Toushirou's legs whole body feel numb, a cold colder than the middle of an Arctic winter. But Toushirou was no stranger to the cold. He was an ice wielder. He had used ice, and had been surrounded by ice and cold ever since he was young, so this only served to invigorate him. He continued his ascend.

The dragon flew up, high into the sky, all the while coiling and roaring a voice deeper and louder than the thunder from Tenso Jurin. If he fell now, he knew that he would be dead for sure, but he wasn't afraid. He knew that he would not fall. He was not going to ever fall again. Never again would he be afraid of height, because he was going to fly on his own. As absurd as that sounded, he somehow felt that it was so.

Because the dragon was right. There was no more pretending that he was anything less than he was. No more holding himself back. He had always known that he was something more. He would not run again, not pretend for the sake of others. That was only lying to himself. He didn't want to do that anymore.

He knew what he had to do, and he must do it right.

_Do you think that I want a master that doesn't know himself? Did you think that my master could be one who cannot reign over me?_

_No, _Toushirou now answered silently in his mind as he let out a yell, his foot hitting the top of Hyourinmaru's head, and bunching his muscles together, he pushed off, leaping high into the air, higher than he'd ever leapt before, higher than he'd ever been, and away from the deadly jaws that snapped at him, threatening to crush him. He felt exhilaration shoot through his veins. Never had he felt so free. Never had he felt, as the cold air circled his body, and snow hit his hair, so much truly like _himself_.

It was time to stand his ground and accept his fate without fear or hesitation. Time to claim what is rightly his.

He twisted his body in mid-air, and brought his blade up. He came speeding down, gravity and the speed of his fall giving his blade strength and speed. With a cry, he slammed his ice sword upon the dragon's head. He felt a tremor race down the dragon's entire body from the strength of his attack.

He was not going to loose. He refused to be denied his place and right. He will not be struck down again, by Hyourinmaru, by Aizen, by anyone. He was going to rise above.

The dragon struggled for a moment against him, but he pushed back with double the ferocity. They were frozen like this for a second, a boy, pushing down upon a dragon high in the air, and then, suddenly, the dragon gave in. It went crashing to the ground in a heap, sending up an explosion of ice, dust and reiatsu. As the dust cleared, it revealed Toushirou, his blade still pushing against the dragon's head, forcing him down in submission. The dragon trembled in effort against his bade, but Toushirou kept him there, and he could hear a low rumble of acceptance and defeat in the back of his mind.

"At this position," Toushirou said softly, but firmly, "I am the master. I am above you, holding you down by my own strength. I have surpassed you in all aspects of your power. At this moment, I am in control, and at this moment, I am the master."

The dragon let out a low growl and bowed his head, closing its crimson eyes. The ice of his body began to glow and seemed to condense. Toushirou felt an intense wind blow his hair from his face. At the same time, he felt the harsh ice of the hilt of his makeshift blade melt, morphing into the soft hilt that he was accustomed to. The ice of Hyourinmaru, turning into reiatsu, seemed to converge together, flowing into the glowing shape of a blade. The next moment, Toushirou landed gently upon the plain of ice, in his hands, he held the long and familiar shape of his zanpakutou.

He heard the familiar voice of Hyourinmaru in the back of his mind.

**_Yes, you are the master. I am merely the shadow. Remember this, Toushirou. A dragon cannot lie. It will always be what it is. Just as you are like the dragon, so you can never deny what you are. You are the Heavenly Guardian, and hold more power than any one person alone ever has. But don't forget your friends, Toushirou. And don't forget that your power, like a dragon, once awakened, is not easily suppressed. You must be ready to take that risk. _**

"I am ready," Toushirou replied aloud.

**_I know. That is why the barrier has vanished. _**

Toushirou looked to the seal in shock to see that Hyourinmaru's words were indeed true. The barrier had gone completely, leaving the seal bare to the environment, glowing so brilliantly that it nearly blinded him.

**_That barrier was really your hesitation. While you were in doubt, and were not truly yourself, it remained. I battled you, merely to make you see that, and make you stop holding yourself back. Now that you understand, we may truly begin. Let us take are place again, as one._**

_Yes, _Toushirou thought. _Let's go forth, together._

He felt Hyourinmaru vibrate gently under his fingers in response as he leapt forward.

As he did, Hyourinmaru thought to the Heavenly Guardian from before. The first one. He remembered her last words to him as she lay dying from a battle.

_Listen, my true reincarnation will far surpass me in power. I know it. I hope he can do what I could not. I hope…that you can share with him…an even closer bond than you have with me…Goodbye…Hyourinmaru…until we meet again…_

Hyourinmaru had thought the silver-white haired woman's words impossible, yet…

_You were right. Every word you spoke was true._

Toushirou let out a cry, gathering all the energy left in his body, he raised Hyourinmaru, and cut down upon the seal. The seal's bright golden light immediately changed too a blinding blue. Powerful reiatsu resisted him, pushing him back, but he pushed back, grunting in effort and concentration.

There was a tense pause, in which time itself seemed to stand still. Then, suddenly, the blade cut into the seal, shattering it. There was an explosion of reiatsu as Toushirou felt himself suddenly thrown into the air, not harshly, but gently. His surroundings disappeared in a world of bright blue light. Then, suddenly, with none of the gentleness with which he was tossed into the air, he felt energy suddenly rush into his body at full force. He gasped as he felt it fill every fiber of his being, power so pure and powerful and so much of it, that he felt almost as if he wouldn't be able to contain it, and that it would rip him apart. But he accepted it fully, without a doubt. He would not doubt.

And, as he felt the power fill him, through the tremor of its strength, he heard Hyourinmaru's words again.

**_Remember the strength of your power, Toushirou. It isn't something to be underestimated. It will be very hard to control it, and it is very destructive. Power always comes at a price. Yours will be more work suppressing it and not destroy anything, which won't be easy._**

_I know, _Toushirou thought, as he felt new strength rush through his limbs, and reiatsu race along every cell in his body, feeling it change every part of his being.

**_Time is running out. Aizen is close to achieving his goals. Your strength will be able to halt him, and maybe even go against him, but it will take much to defeat him, and effect it may have on your body may be serious. _**

_It doesn't matter. Right now, I just want to save them all._

**_Very well, but heed my warning. Your body has already been severely wounded, and this battle just now has also taken its toll on it. Though there won't be any physical mark, it has wounded your body somewhat too. If you strain it too much, you can seriously hurt yourself. Your power, like your bankai, will be able to temporarily seal your wounds, and give you strength, but after you suppress it, then you may have aggravated your body more. Be careful, Toushirou._**

_I will try…_

**_Good. Now, Hitsugaya Toushirou, awaken, finally, as the Heavenly Guardian._**

Reiatsu flared and peaked once again. Toushirou was completely blocked from sight by a glow brighter than the brightest star. All the while, a certain boy's fate was forever changed. As the transformation finished, and the glow died off, having been consumed by his body, he knew that from this moment on, there was no going back. His fate was sealed, and he himself was forever different.

* * *

Momo gasped in pain as the espada struck her again. She was covered in wounds, her haori ripped to tatters and soaked in her blood. She winced, her fingers pressed against the new wound to her side, trying desperately to staunch the blood flow.

She knew that it was amazing that she'd survived this long, considering her already weak state. She was up against only the tenth espada, as the ninth had decided that he was not needed for this. Momo couldn't help but agree at the moment.

She cried out as she was kicked again, her body sent crashing into the concrete barrier that surrounded the roof of the building. The thick concrete cracked from the force of the impact and her body screamed out in pain. She lifted her head weakly.

"Hmph, dunno why Aizen-sama sent the two of us. I could have killed you easily all by myself." The espada said.

His eyes flickered to the kyoumon were Toushirou still lay. "And why are you so keen to protect this piece of trash?" he demanded, "He's not even worth it. He's probably already dead, as a piece of trash should be…Argh!"

He yelled out in pain as he suddenly found Tobiume stuck inside his chest. He looked up in shock to see Momo standing there, panting, her eyes shadowed and her body trembling. He had no idea how she'd gotten there so fast. Violet reiatsu rolled off of her in waves.

"I'm going to make you pay for that," she said in a dangerous voice, her reiatsu peaking. The espada's eyes widened in fear. "No one _ever _says that about Shirou-chan and gets away with it!"

Her blade exploded with power as she yelled out in effort, sending as much energy, more than she'd ever released, throughout her blade and into the espada's body. The espada screamed as he felt Tobiume's power shoot through his body. His insides felt as if it was on fire and disintegrating. He could feel the pain ripping through him, almost too much for him to take. He almost wished for death.

With a few more moments, his body could no longer take it. In a sudden burst of reiatsu, it was ripped apart from the inside, the reiatsu disintegrating his flesh as he screamed his last.

Momo fell to her hands and knees, her zanpakutou slipping out of her hand and clattering to the ground a few feet away. She knew she had been foolish and had used up all her energy in that last attack, but her anger had gotten the better of her. Now she felt as if she had nothing left.

"Well, well, you're actually quite strong, but I sense that you have used up all your power."

She raised her head weakly to see the ninth espada, looking down at her, his face sneering. "You've spent everything. Ah well, I suppose you can call it revenge, but personally, I thought that Sebastian was a weak fool."

Momo felt tears gather, and images flashed in front of her eyes. She and Toushirou eating watermelon, she and him in the academy, her hugging him after he'd been named captain, while he angrily reprimanded her, though smiling slightly. Him telling her that he'd forgiven her for everything, and one last image of them, while they were still young and carefree, smiling contently as they watched the stars.

_Shirou-chan…_

There was a sudden explosion of reiatsu, powerful reiatsu and different from anything that she'd ever felt before, yet at the same time, familiar.

"What!" the espada turned. The energy came from the kyoumon, or at least, where the kyoumon was. It had shattered from the force of the reiatsu inside, and all he would see was a blinding blue glow, so bright that the image of the surroundings seemed to be devoured by it. Frigid waves of air crashed upon him. It the middle of the light, he could see a small figure that still lay on the ground. He felt frightening power coming from it.

He snapped his gaze back on Momo again, his face livid. "Was this your doing?"

"No…"

"Lies!" the espada's rage was frightening, "This is a trick isn't it? Well it doesn't matter. I'll just make sure that whatever you're trying to do, you don't succeed. I'll just kill you now!"

His zanpakutou rose up. Momo screamed, knowing that the end was coming.

The air suddenly seemed to freeze and turn solid with pressure, causing the espada to freeze mid-swing and gag. Frost began to form on his arm, and he felt as if all the moisture in his arm had frozen. The rest of his body seemed to freeze up as well. 'Wha-!" Small white and shining spots danced across his vision, and his eyes widened as he realized that it was snow. The sky began to darken with clouds.

A sudden slash cut through his frozen body easily as though it was water. He looked down jerkily to see a blade plunged in his chest. Water and ice burst from the tip, encasing his whole body, freezing him fully to the core. He tried for a moment to release reiatsu to shatter it, but the ice didn't even shake. Suddenly, the ice cracked and shattered, the espada's body shattering along with the ice and disintegrating to dust as the blade was withdrawn from his body.

Momo's eyes widened. Wind had picked up, blowing ice dust and snow around. But as the espada disintegrated, she saw through the ice and dust someone she did _not _expect to see. Someone she'd believed to be dead by now.

"I've always said that if anyone hurts Momo, I will personally kill them," came an achingly familiar voice.

Momo was frozen, not by ice, like the espada, but with shock as she watched the figure approach her. He stood beside her, looking toward Aizen.

"It's not finished yet."

"No…way…"she whispered, seeming to find words difficult to form. "You…you're…"

"I'm sorry Momo, I'll explain later," he gave her a sad look, and then vanished, while she was left staring in shock at the spot he had been moments ago. "How…"

* * *

Ichigo pushed himself painfully to his feet again.

"You're really serious, ne, Kurosaki." Aizen smirked.

Ichigo panted, then looked Aizen directly in the eyes. Aizen smirked, and then raised his hands. Black, sharp granite claws formed on his nails. With an almost lazy wave of his hand, he sent them flying at Ichigo.

"Kurosaki!" came a cry. A glowing arrow shot at the claws, destroying them upon impact.

Aizen turned and looked with distaste at the perpetrator.

"I seemed to have missed another one, other than Hinamori," he said, as Uryu raised his bow and fired another arrow. Aizen raised a hand and grabbed the arrow in mid-air. Uryu's eye widened in shock as he tightened his grip, shattering it. He then sent a branch flying at Uryu, who was knocked off his feet and sent crashing into a building.

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime screamed as she rushed toward him, forgetting all else. Aizen just smirked at the girl's carelessness and sent another branch at them.

"Orihime!" Uryu screamed, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth and rushing toward her, shielding her just as the branch was about to pierce her, having it pierce him instead.

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime said in horror, just as a third branch shot toward them, spreading its smaller, claw-like branches like fingers and snatching both of them at the same time. They were lifted into the air along with all the others.

"Let them go!" Ichigo shouted. Aizen looked at him. "And how are you going to make me do that?" he asked tauntingly.

Ichigo gripped his zanpakutou. "I'm going to make you pay! Getsuga Tenshou!" He snarled, sending the attack at Aizen.

Aizen smirked and raised a hand, and easily ripped through the attack, dissipating it easily.

"What!" Ichigo gasped as Aizen suddenly shot his arm out again, grabbing him by his throat again and brought him close to him, lifting him to his eye level. He tried to struggle, but he could feel his energy depleting by the second, not only from fighting, but also from lack of air.

"Ichigo!"

Attacks exploded from all sides by his various friends, but Aizen easily dispelled them, both by using his other hand and his branches. Then he waved his hands and the grips of the branches tightened, cutting into everyone. Screams and groans filled the air.

"You see, Kurosaki Ichigo," he said, turning his attention back to Ichigo. All these lives lost and all your efforts were wasted. I am a man of my word, and when I said I'd destroy the worlds, I will. You will learn that I am at the top. No one stands above me, and no one shall bring me down."

He raised a hand again, and suddenly, the air became so think that it was impossible to breath.

Soul society crumbled. Hueco Mundo crumbled. The human world crumbled. The citizens of all three worlds looked around in confusion and fear. Indeed, the barriers between the three worlds began to crumble. They could already see faint smudges of colour that did not belong in the sky.

"And when I say that I will kill you, I will. Your life was wasted, and you power was wasted. Now, you will lose your life for nothing. Goodbye, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo had no strength left to resist. He held his head limply in defeat. It was over. He knew it. He had failed; they had all failed. And now, they were all going to die.

Aizen slowly drew his zanpakutou, savoring the pain of the shinigami, as they watched, unable to help, and Ichigo, unable to resist as he awaited death. He enjoyed every second of making Ichigo wait. But he wouldn't make him wait too long. Before he could make a move, however, the air was pierced by a scream and a burst of reiatsu so strong that it could contrast Aizen's.

Renji and Izuru gasped. "That was Momo!" Other shinigami looked worried.

"My, they must be having fun with her," Aizen said. He noted the unfamiliar reiatsu, but thought nothing of it. Perhaps Sebastian had been like Yammy, with hidden power. He wouldn't know, as he didn't take time after creating them to really observe them. However, he still felt a little bit of unease that told him to hurry up. He couldn't help but feel that something did not go according to his plan.

"It was fun to watch you try and defeat me," he said, raising his blade as he got ready to kill the young shinigami.

Ichigo raised his head to look at Aizen and his zanpakutou glinting in the light from the weak sun. _This is it. _Thoughts of everything flashed in his mind. His friends, human and Soul Society, his family, his allies, his classmates, and mostly, that one dark-haired girl that had got him involved in this, and who he had grown to care about with all his heart.

Yes, he would die, thinking of Rukia…

His eyes widened as suddenly, the sky turned dark and stormy clouds gathered. Thunder rumbled in the distance. At the same time, tiny pecks of something white and sparkling flew across his vision. Some touched his cheek, and he felt cold where they did.

_What the…snow?_

Frost began to creep up the branches, coating them in a layer of white. Everyone, including Aizen and his arrancar, looked around in curiosity as the snow grew thicker, and strangely, glowing a faint blue.

Aizen lowered his sword gasped in sudden shock. "This…this can't be!"

Thunder roared again, yet this time, it seemed much closer, and much less like thunder and more like the growl of an ancient and terrible beast.

Thick reiatsu, along with a frigid cold, unlike anything they'd ever felt before descended upon them. At the same time, with a mighty roar and movements so fast that none saw it coming, a gigantic dragon of water and ice shot at Aizen. Its lithe and powerful tail slammed hard against the crystal branches that supported Aizen's throne, and almost as if by accident, coated them in ice, which shattered along with the branches almost immediately after. For some strange reason, however, though wild, the dragon seemed to miss all the shinigami and others trapped in the branches. They leapt back, freed at last, and in shock.

Aizen looked on, fear crossing his face for the first time as he looked into the dragon's terrible crimson eyes. It shot right at him, clamping its enormous lethal jaws around him and breaking his hold on Ichigo, who was thrown back heavily, but managed to gather enough spirit particles to stay airborne.

The dragon looked on, flew up into the air, Aizen still clamped in its jaws and coiling upward. When it was quite high up in the air, it suddenly halted and came spirally down, shooting past the shinigami and crashing headfirst into the building below in an explosion of ice, dust, concrete and reiatsu.

The other shinigami and arrancar alike looked on, stunned, as the dust cleared. The building had been completely demolished and reduced to rubble. In fact, where it had been was now a giant crater, covered in ice from the dragon's body that rose up in sharp points at the edge of the crater.

From the center of it, Aizen picked himself up clumsily, a layer of ice shattering and falling off his body. He glared in deadly fury at them all, eyes blazing at glowering at all the shinigami, or rather, behind all of them.

A new reiatsu spread into the area. It was so powerful and pure that it seemed to crush Aizen's; so powerful that they were barely able to move. A chill came along with it, colder than the dead of winter. The reiatsu was almost familiar, yet at the same time, completely foreign.

A voice sounded from behind them all. One that no one expected to hear.

"Aizen, I am also a man of my word. I promised that I would not rest until you are dead, and I intend to keep my word."

They all turned in astonishment. They saw someone behind them. Someone floating effortlessly in mid-air, holding an eight-pointed hilt sword. Someone with silver white hail, as white as the snow that surrounded them, fluttering in the wind from his reiatsu. Someone who had always looked like a child, yet at this moment, seemed to have grown older. His very body itself was glowing with blue reiatsu. A thin, but strong layer of ice covered his wounds. He looked down at them, flying high above where Aizen had been, yet unlike Aizen, he didn't pose a threatening feeling. His face was calm and serious, and he looked ethereal and otherworldly. His previous battered state seemed to have been worlds away, and he was radiating power stronger than any he'd had before, and any they'd ever felt before.

"Im…impossible!" Ichigo whispered, while all the others seemed to have lost the ability to form words.

Aizen brushed the last of the ice from his arm, panting and clutching the wounds from the dragon's jaws. But he seemed far from fazed. Instead, he was already regaining his confidence and smirk.

"So, the Heavenly Guardian has finally returned, and has finally fully awakened," he sneered.

The person said nothing, but appraised him serenely, his eyes filled with a cool wisdom much beyond his years.

"I wondered what that reiatsu was. So it was you. You've finally awakened, ne, Hitsugaya Toushirou."

* * *

Notes: I plan to finish this in the next chapter. Yes, I think you are all going, "how the heck are you going to do that?" but I will pull it off, because I really don't know how to continue at the moment. Of course, that is just the battle part, but…I shall explain the rest in the next chapter.

Hmm, I seem to have written the vaizard part a little off, now that I read the new chapter, but I don't know…I'll just stick to my version.

This chapter might be a little…rushed. I don't know it I moved to fast, but I don't really know what more to do at the moment, but if I do get ideas, I might rewrite it.

By the way, when Toushirou appeared, he is actually flying. I just wanted to clear that up. I assume that if he was a Heavenly Guardian, then he could probably fly, and he could already fly in bankai anyways. Oh, and his sword was in bankai form because now that he's so powerful and all, well, it's kind of like the thing with Ichigo's sword always in shikai. Of-course, since he can control it, it will go back to its sealed state.

Also, I'd really appreciated if you could give me an opinion of something. Do you want Stark to die or not? Someone already told me yes, and if there are no objections, he will. Not going to go into details about it though.

Enough of my rambling. Thanks for reading, and tell me if there's anything you might like to say about the story.


	10. Chapter 10 Final Battle

Last chapter! Yes, I know that it is a freakishly long chapter, but I got carried away and didn't really know how to cut it in two. This is only the end to the fight. Sorry for the delay, but I was typing it, and then my USB got a virus and I lost it, so I had to restart. Grrr.

Disclaimer: You know, I've always thought it would be funny if Tite Kubo were here writing fan-fiction. Why would he need too, if he already has Bleach? So, since Tite Kubo owns Bleach, and since he probably isn't here writing fan-fiction, I'm obviously not Tite Kubo, or I wouldn't have been ranting about other chapters anyhow, I think it's pretty obvious I don't own Bleach.

I realized I've never put in a disclaimer, so there. Thanks to all that reviewed, read, favourited or put this story on their alerts. It makes me so happy! And now, on with the chapter, which I hope is okay.

* * *

Chapter 10 Final Battle

"I wondered what that reiatsu was. So it was you," Aizen said, a smirk plastered all over his face. "You have finally awakened, Hitsugaya."

Ichigo stared, eyes wide and open-mouthed at the 10th division captain. The young boy was surveying Aizen with a cool expression. Fat flakes of snow danced around his form. His reiatsu rolled off of him in thick waves, the sheer power of it crushing to even the captains. The glow from it caught on the snow around him.

"No…no way!'

"It's the captain!" "But I thought he…"

"Taichou!"

"Hitsugaya-taichou!"

The cries that filled the air came from the lower-ranked shinigami, and were slightly muffled by the thick snow. The captains and lieutenants, however, were too shocked to say anything. Even the arrancar were frozen in shock.

"Tou-Toushirou!" Ichigo gasped out at last. Toushirou's eyes flicked toward him for a brief moment, and Ichigo saw in the blue depths of it an understanding and wisdom far beyond what one would normally expect someone his age to possess. As well, just by looking into his eyes, he could almost feel the ancient and tremendous power that Toushirou now possessed.

Toushirou turned back to Aizen. "Aizen, your power is finished. You're going to fall today." His voice was soft and calm, laced with coolness. There was no threatening tone, or boastfulness, just the quiet understatement of truth.

"Oh, you think so, Hitsugaya?" Aizen sneered. "You dare presume that you can defeat me? That I can possibly fall?"

"I don't presume," Toushirou replied. "It's over for you, Aizen."

The next things happened so fast that it was all over before anyone even began to register what had past. There was a flash of color and sonido behind Toushirou, who vanished from his spot, just as a blade sliced through the air which he had previously occupied. He reappeared, a few feet above, his eyes narrowed at the arrancar holding the blade. The arrancar in turn, glared venomously back at Toushirou. He must have recovered from the shock that still held most frozen.

"Why you insolent little brat! How dare you talk to Aizen-sama like that? I'm going to teach you a lesson!"

The arrancar's reiatsu flared, seeming almost at espada level, and he sonidoed up to the captain, slicing his zanpakutou at him. Toushirou easily dodged the strike.

The arrancar didn't stop there. He slashed at Toushirou again and again, showering him with relentless strikes, but the captain dodged every one, not even bothering to raise his zanpakutou to defect it.

The arrancar grew more agitated and frustrated as it went on. His strikes grew clumsier, filled with unnecessary force. Toushirou narrowed his eyes at him, and shunpoed back, a little further ways back than before. The arrancar didn't slow his pace, but immediately sonidoed after him. He appeared in front of him for a split second, before disappearing again. Toushirou felt his reiatsu suddenly move behind him, and turned his head sharply to see the arrancar behind him, zanpakutou raised, and a look of triumph on his face. "Ha ha, I got you, you little boy! The fight is over for you!"

The blade flashed, and crashed down upon the captain in a burst of dust and reiatsu, so quickly that many had only just begun to register what was happening. It had certainly not been enough time for Toushirou to move.

Soul Society's forces cried out in fear, shouting too-late useless warnings, while the arrancar hissed in satisfaction. All sounds were silenced, however, as the dust that had been obscuring the scene before them began to clear. They all looked on warily, breathes held, wondering at what they might see, and not sure if they wanted to see it.

They were met by a shocking sight.

The arrancar, thinking that he'd won, felt the smirk on his face slide off as easily as water on ice. He found his blade stuck, it's movements halted, by a single finger. His eyes widened in horror. He was frozen. Frozen in fear and disbelief.

And perhaps by something else as well. Frost began to creep up his zanpakutou, spreading onto his body. A chill ran through him, the wrenching cold numbing his nerves, rendering movement futile. The very blood in his veins seemed to freeze.

Toushirou's head was bowed, a shadow over his face and his hair ruffling in the leftover breeze of the attack.

"No. The fight is over for _you_," he said quietly, but firmly, so that his words were heard quite clearly. The rest of his fingers clamped down on the arrancar's zanpakutou. Lifting his head, he stared straight at the arrancar. His eyes narrowed and flashed a fright blue. At the same time, ice and water erupted from his fingertips, running along that arrancar's frozen body, surrounding and quickly encasing him in a cocoon of ice. Without hesitation, he jerked his hand away, and the ice shattered from the force of the movement, disintegrating along with the arrancar to dust that was lost among the snow in the air.

Ichigo and the other shinigami's eyes were like saucers as they stared in shock. _No way! _Ichigo thought. _With just a finger, he blocked that arrancar's zanpakutou! And he defeated it without even lifting his zanpakutou! What's going on? When did he become so powerful?_

There were cries of outrage from the other arrancars, who seemed to have snapped into action again by the death of one of their comrades. They charged at the captain, murderous intent evident in their eyes. Toushirou turned toward them and immediately swung his zanpakutou, sending a wave of ice and water at them. The arrancar tried to dodge, but the water curled up, following their movements, overtaking them and eventually freezing them into sculptures of ice before shattering.

Almost at once, there came a strong wind of sonido from behind him. Toushirou, in a fluid motion, swung his blade behind him and caught the incoming blade of one of the new espada with a clang.

"Those were my fraccion you just killed," he said in a deadly calm voice.

"I'm sorry, but they were the one's attacking me," Toushirou said, pushing off the espada's blade and leaping a few feet away. "They were going to kill me, so it was only natural that I defend myself."

"Then you will kill me too?" the espada asked.

"Not unless I must. If you would step aside, I won't do anything."

The espada considered him. "Unfortunately, I cannot. My duty is to serve Aizen-sama, and since you are a threat to him, then I must eliminate you."

"I see," Toushirou said softly, "It can't be helped then."

The espada kicked off his ground and charged at the captain, who leapt into the air. The espada leapt with him, following his movements and attacking him with deadly accurate strikes. Toushirou responded with equally, if not more, deadly strikes. Their blades flashed in the air, maneuvered by their owners with ease. The espada was on the offensive, attacking every one of Toushirou's defenses, trying to find an opening. But with Toushirou's master swordsmanship, it was not an easy feat.

The spectators watched in awe as the two flashed across the air, occasionally vanishing and reappearing elsewhere. Neither fighters seemed to be backing down. Each wove around the other with a sort of grace characteristic of masters.

Suddenly, the espada seemed to have had enough. He attacked Toushirou with a strike of unnecessary force, sending the captain skidding few feet away. Before Toushirou could recover himself, the espada lifted his zanpakutou, obviously ready to release it.

Toushirou narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines that Gin had been when the espada had first appeared. Do not allow them to release their zanpakutou's. Before the espada could complete his Resurrecciόn, Toushirou brought his zanpakutou in an arc above his head, allowing to blade to point at the espada. His eyes narrowed and his reiatsu flared. Water and ice converge around his blade. "Hyourinmaru!" he called out, and the huge, full-fledged ice dragon materialized coiling in the air before him. The sheer power of the reiatsu pouring off of him drew the espada's attention, causing him to pause in his release. It was his fatal mistake.

Turning his zanpakutou slightly, Toushirou said calmly, "Hyaku Hiryuu (hundred flying dragons)"

There was a blast of Reiatsu as the enormous ice dragon shattered into a hundred shards of ice. Each shard immediately morphed into separate smaller dragons, which twisted in the air for a moment, surrounded by deadly reiatsu, before shooting at the stunned espada, moving so fast that they became blurs, shedding some of themselves in the form of ice dust due to speed.

The espada tried to block, but it was futile. They crashed into him, stabbing into his flesh, freezing and coating his limbs in ice. Their speed and power shattered his zanpakutou as they made contact. And then there was just the sheer number of dragons. The espada gasped in shock as the last of the dragons attacked, his breathing heavy as he raised his head, his hate-filled eyes finding Toushirou. He wasn't finished yet. Gathering his energy, he converged all the energy he had left inside and released it in the form of a dangerous cero.

Toushirou saw it coming. He tensed his muscles, and gathering his own energy inside him, he leapt forward, blade outstretched, slicing through the cero and continuing to the espada. The espada looked at him with wide eyes, his mouth formed into a small "o" of surprise.

There was a horrible slashing sound, and the next moment, the espada found himself run through by Hyourinmaru. Water blossomed from the tip of the blade, spreading all over his body. He did not resist, for he knew it was futile. He only looked up into Toushirou's eyes as the water blurred his vision as it turned to ice. He saw a sort of solemn regret there, and knew that the captain didn't enjoy fighting this war any more than he did.

The ice was shattered as Toushirou ripped his blade from the ice, sending the espada to the same fate that claimed his fraccion. The other shinigami were struck dumb at this fantastic display of power. "No way!" Renji gasped. "He defeated that espada as it was just a normal hollow! How did he suddenly get so powerful?"

Many others were wondering the exact same thing. Momo, meanwhile, could only stare. _Shirou-chan, _she thought, _what happened? Why do you suddenly possess such devastating power? And how are you all okay?_

"My, my," Aizen's sneering voice broke the silence, apparently the defeat of his arrancar having no effect on him. "As can be expected of the Heavenly Guardian. Truly amazing. And that's not even the most of your potential. You truly are the reincarnation. It's just too bad that you won't be able to live long with the honor."

"Is that so?" Toushirou said, turning toward Aizen calmly.

"Of-course. You're too late, Hitsugaya, in challenging my power. My power has risen high above its previous state. It's even more powerful than yours. I have fused with the Hougyoku, and pushed away all my limits. My power rises with each passing second. You cannot defeat me!"

With a maniacal cackle, Aizen rose into the air. It seemed that he had snapped, his lust for power had finally snapped his sanity, and warped his mind. He radiated reiatsu so strong, so crushing, that all the shinigami, especially in their weak states, collapsed. Even the remaining arrancar, espada, and the vaizards fell to their knees.

Sudden wind picked up, the sheer force of it shaking the demolished buildings. Along with the wind came waves of black reiatsu. As soon as they touched any surrounding matter, the matter began to break apart, much like a sand castle does as ocean waves crash against it.

The shinigami gritted their teeth against the pressure, their bodies almost completely immobilized by the crushing pressure. Some were just barely able to raise their heads, while others were completely defeated.

Ichigo was among those who could still raise his head. He felt sweat bead down his face as he struggled against the pressure. But his struggles were all but forgotten as something caught his eye that was more shocking than anything that had happened to him recently.

Toushirou was still standing. He seemed completely unmoved and unaffected by the pressure. In fact, he was not only standing (or flying, Ichigo couldn't tell), but he was still able to move with ease.

Toushirou narrowed his eyes at Aizen. He could feel his reiatsu rising with each passing second. He knew that he had to do something soon, or the power from it could really blow everything to dust.

He saw out of the corner of his eye his own reiatsu manifesting. His grip on his zanpakutou tightened. He gathered his reiatsu around Hyourinmaru, compacting it. Then, he raised his sword above his head and swung it down, releasing the dense, compacted energy at Aizen in a torrent of reiatsu combined with water and ice. It shot through the air, sweeping away the black reiatsu that was Aizen's as it moved. The clashing reiatsu created huge shockwaves of energy that rippled through the air like giant ocean waves. Toushirou, for the first time, gathered reishi beneath his feet. Without a moments pause, he tensed his muscles and leapt.

Aizen turned as the wave of energy swept his away. The next instant, before he could contemplate what to do, Toushirou forced him to lift his zanpakutou to defend himself from being sliced in two by Hyourinmaru. The two blades clashed, the sound of scraping metal heard clearly even through the howling wind of the clashing reiatsu and snowstorm overhead.

The two exchanged furious blows. Aizen felt his smirk die down, and instead, his face twist and contort in frustration. Toushirou's skill of combat had seemed to increase exponentially since the last time that they'd fought. He dodged speed and grace, using reishi in the air to form footholds as he attacked and dodged. He strikes were filled with deadly accuracy and strength, coming in at angles that caused Aizen to just barely block to prevent being struck. He was quick, switching expertly between offence and defense.

Aizen, frowning, struck out with his blade, but Toushirou leapt, touching his foot on the blade and stepping down on it before slicing at Aizen, who dodged just in time to save from being beheaded, though a few of his auburn locks weren't so lucky. Toushirou leapt back, waving his hand at Aizen.

"Hadou 88, Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!" Toushirou said, and a truly enormous strike of lightning, larger and stronger than any they'd ever seen, even from captains using this spell, shot at Aizen. Aizen gritted his teeth, and, feeling almost a sense of Déjà vu, quickly said, "Bakudou 81, Danku!"

A rectangular wall rose up between him and the attack. The electricity blast struck the wall with a huge explosion of reiatsu, which when cleared, showed that the force had destroyed both the shield and the attack.

Neither parties were wavered though. Both Toushirou and Aizen simply charged back into fierce combat. The shinigami watched the fight, awed. The level of skill that Toushirou showed was unlike anything they'd ever seen. And that wasn't all. As they watched, Aizen suddenly swung his zanpakutou at Toushirou's legs. The latter leapt up, and, not pushing against anything, shot right back at Aizen. Something told them that Toushirou wasn't just using reishi to stay in the air, but actually _flying_.

Aizen narrowed his eyes, and raised his arm. With a wave, he sent a series of what looked almost like ceros, except much more dangerous and destructive, at Toushirou. Toushirou managed to block or dodge most, but couldn't help one of them scratching him on the arm. He frowned and covered the wound with ice, and charged at Aizen again. Aizen, realizing that he hadn't bought himself a lot of time to prepare an attack, sent a horde of hollows at Toushirou with another wave of his hand.

Toushirou looked around him, frustration clear on his face as he sliced through the hollows with ease. There were so many of them, and it would take too long to carve a path to Aizen.

"Chire, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi," came a calm voice.

Toushirou's eyes widened as the air was suddenly filled with a multitude of tiny, pale pink blades, drifting among the snow like pink sakura blossoms. They suddenly whizzed out of sight, and suddenly, the hollows fell by the thousands, disintegrating in bursts of pink reiatsu as the power of Byakuya's bankai hit them. The captain's bankai seemed more powerful than ever, and even some Menos were taken out by a single blade. Toushirou turned to glance at Byakuya, giving him one grateful nod. The captain was panting slightly in effort of using bankai in his weak state, but gave him a nod of acknowledgement. Then, as Toushirou shunpoed away after Aizen, he turned to his companions. "We must help," he stated. "The final, decisive battle is upon us. We must do all we can to end it now." He didn't wait to see if they had listened. Instead, he shunpoed forward, sword forming in his hand again, scarf and hair fluttering with grace as he locked swords with an arrancar for a moment. His eyes flashed and narrowed, and suddenly he vanished again. The arrancar looked around frantically and suddenly, Byakuya was behind him. Before he could do anything, he found himself suddenly surrounded by millions of tiny blades. Within seconds, there was nothing left of the arrancar. Without missing a beat, Byakuya turned to another opponent, eyes blazing, his reiatsu fully unleashed now, flaring around him, as he fought without hesitation, showing just truly how terrible his power was.

The shinigami looked at him, varying expressions on their faces, but they all melted away to determination at his example.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. Using all his strength, he pushed against the pressure in the air, which had weakened somewhat, and got to his feet. With a battle cry, he unleashed the Getsuga Tenshou at the hollows. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, invigorating him like a drug. He watched in grim satisfaction as many hollows were taken out, and others faced him. He tightened his grip on Zangetsu's hilt, and leapt into the fray, slicing at hollows left and right. The other shinigami followed suit, all pushing against their physical limits, all with steely resolve to fight and finish this once and for all.

Battle broke out again, the shinigami rushing at the hollows and arrancar with renewed strength and ferocity. The arrancar fought back, but somehow were beginning to struggle under the weight of force brought on by their opponents putting every last shred of strength into the fight. No matter how tired and battered they were, they fought with double the strength, invigorated by Toushirou's return, and Byakuya's speech.

Matsumoto was unmoving for a moment. She still couldn't believe that her captain was alive, and the level of power that he'd radiated. She had heard the rumors before, but since Toushirou never liked talking about it, she's dismissed them as just that. But now, she wasn't so sure. She struggled to get up, but several of her bones, including one leg, were still broken from the branches, and the wound in her side had not completely healed.

"Ran-chan, need a hand?" came a familiar, cheerful voice.

Matsumoto looked up in surprise to see Gin, stretching a hand to her as he had done when they first met. The same grin that had mystified her back then, and looked so familiar now, was still plastered over his face. "Gin…" she whispered, fighting back an urge to throw her arms around him, knowing that now wasn't the time, and that he still had a lot of explaining to her to do.

Gin grinned wider. "C'mon, mini-taichou needs our help."

A few hollows surrounded them, along with the arrancar that Matsumoto had been fighting. He leered at them, especially Gin. Gin merely raised his zanpakutou with his free hand. "Ikorose, Shinso!"

The arrancar dodged, though the hollows weren't so lucky and tens of them were sliced to pieces as Shiniso stretched out. But Gin wasn't paying attention to that.

"C'mon, Ran-chan. Ya wanna help your kid-captain, ne?"

Matsumoto nodded, determination in her eyes as she let Gin pull her to her feet and support her weight, as she could not. Once she had regained her balance slightly, Gin bent over, and unceremoniously ripped a portion of his robes, and quickly bandaged her leg into a splint. Matsumoto nodded in gratitude, as she could stand now, albeit awkwardly. Raising her own zanpakutou, she said, "Unare, Haineko!"

The two fought, side-by-side again for the first time in many years.

Uryu looked up at the fight that had broken out again. He stood up, clutching his bleeding stomach.

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime cried out. "You shouldn't move!"

"I have no choice," he said. "I must fight, or be killed."

He raised his right hand, his bow forming from the Quincy cross that he carried. He drew the string made of reiatsu, gritting his teeth in effort, and let fly the 1200 arrows that vanquished hundreds of hollows as they rained upon them.

"I have to keep fighting to my last breath. That is something I must do on my honor as a Quincy!'

"Spoken like a true Quincy."

Uryu's eyes widened as he turned to find his father striding toward him, followed by Ichigo's father, stepping out of a senkaimon. "What-"

"Yo, did we come too late?" Isshin saluted. "We just managed to fend off all the hollows that have come to Soul Society. Something seems to have made them stop coming. And I've finally managed to get them to open a senkaimon for us, after convincing them that I was indeed real." He chuckled to himself.

"Ehh! Kurosaki-san! Ishida-san!" Orihime cried out in astonishment.

Isshin was looking to the battle between Toushirou and Aizen. "My, my, the boy's really advanced," he murmured to himself, lost in memories. "I remember back when he'd walk around with this cold, mature air about him, and nearly gave me frostbite when I called him Shirou-chan." He shook his head. "Well, I told you, my replacement is much more mature than me." He added to Ryuken.

Ryuken ignored him, and summoned his bow, and did not reply. Isshin grinned.

"Well, I shall explain everything later, kids. Right now, we have a battle to fight. Oh, and reinforcements are coming," he added.

He was right. He had barely shunpoed away when the senkaimon glowed and some moths flew out, followed by a horde of shinigami, though the senkaimon was not really needed, as the barrier between the two worlds was not but a thin membrane. They all bore scratches that signified that they'd been in a fight, but they were mostly fresh, with strength and determination. Following them was Nanao, who looked around immediately for Kyouraku. She found him, fighting Stark again, and pushing him away from the other arrancar. Stark glared at him.

"Taichou!" she called out, shunpoing forward, when she was stopped by an arm covered by a slightly tattered and bloody sailor suit sleeve. A familiar voice came to her, one that she hadn't heard in over 100 years.

"Don't distract him. He needs his concentration."

Her eyes widened as she traveled down the arm toward the face of the glasses wearing, hair in a braid woman that had read to her on the first night of each month so long ago. "Yadomaru…fukutaichou…" she whispered in utter shock. Lisa's gaze flickered to her, and she flashed a grin. "Old habits die hard, don't they? You still carry a book around all the time, and call me fukutaichou. Aren't you the lieutenant now? By the way, good job on keeping him in line," she said, jerking her hand at Kyouraku.

Kyouraku spared the two one glance. _Well well, it seems like a day full of reunions, _he thought to himself.

"What's wrong?" Stark demanded. "Your reiatsu just fluctuated. Are you too tired to fight?"

Kyouraku grinned. "No, on the contrary, I feel more pumped up for a fight than ever, knowing that my little Nanao-chan is watching. Shall we begin, serious this time?" he said, taking a stance. His reiatsu rose and peaked. He shrugged off his pink kimono, throwing it into the wind. The two charged, fighting all across the skies. Ceros and reiatsu flew in all directions, causing many to clear away from the two.

After a while of furious fighting, Kyouraku suddenly slashed out at Stark, coming in at a fast and sharp angle that stunned him. Blood splattered into the air and Kyouraku leapt back, watching as Stark glared at him lividly. Then, angling both his blades at Stark, Kyouraku said, "I think that's enough. Sorry, espada, it is time to show what I can really do. Bankai."

Reitsu peaked, one among many rising reiatsu in the area. Stark's eyes widened at the sight. This time when he released it, it was more powerful than anything that he'd ever seen before. Now he understood why the other man had said that it wasn't suited for fight with him. "Jushirou said that my bankai isn't suited to fight with you, but that doesn't mean I can't still beat you," Kyouraku said as he attacked. (note: I have no idea what his bankai could be, and I plan to let Tite Kubo decide. But I usually picture Kyouraku beating Stark, so I'll work around what Ukitake had said)

Stark gritted his teeth. He tried to fight back, but he finally realized Kyouraku's true strength. The man had been toying with him all along!

Kyouraku's smile faded for a moment. "I'm sorry, Stark, 1st espada. Your strength was truly stunning, and you were a tough opponent. Allow me to say that I was truly surprised by your strength. I do regret that it has to come to this."

Stark's eyes widened as reiatsu surrounded him, and suddenly, before he could do anything, he knew that it was over.

_S-Stark! _came Lilynette's scared voice.

_Don't worry Lilynette, I'm sure that wherever we're heading, it'll be a great place for napping. _

_Is lazing around all you care to do? _Lilynette reprimanded. Stark shrugged. He felt his body fading away, disintegrating to reishi. He knew that it was all over for him, but somehow, he didn't feel humiliation like he thought he would if he died. Maybe it had something to do with being killed by such a powerful and honorable man like Kyouraku.

Ukitake ad felt his friend's bankai as he fended off the other arrancar. He admits that he had felt deeply uneasy when the man had activated it, fearing for him. But he should have known that Kyouraku would not be defeated, no matter what disadvantage his bankai caused him.

As he fought, he felt a cough rise to his lips, threatening to take over his body again as it had done on the night that Kaien died, but he suppressed it harshly. Everyone else was pushing their limits, and so will he. He refused to let a small setback like his weak health to disable him now, not when it was so close. He fought at his full strength as well, along with everyone else, fighting with all the power and grace that someone like him possessed.

Soi Fon and Yoruichi were destroying hollows everywhere, relying heavily on their shunko abilities. As she destroyed another hollow, however, Soi Fon nearly collapsed and she groaned as she clutched at her wounds, which had reopened. Her vision blurred slightly and she felt weak from blood loss and using up her reiatsu.

"Soi Fon?" Yoruichi asked.

"I'm fine," she said, though her voice contradicted that statement. "I only have a little energy left, and my body can't take it much longer. We need to finish this soon." She let out a war cry as she released a large amount of reiatsu and charged with double the speed and ferocity of before.

Yoruichi grinned. _Soi Fon, You've really improved. _"Well, just don't die on me. We can have Orihime look at that arm of yours later."

Komamura let a snarl rip through his throat as he cut down another arrancar. Beside him, Hisagi twirled his dangerous scythes above his head. Somehow, the two seemed to have bonded by the betrayal of the same person, and it was a close bond that none had expected. The two fought with all their strength, wanting it all to end.

"Some no Mae, Tsukishiro!" Rukia called out as she swung her zanpakutou in a graceful arc, creating the pure white circle that froze all the unfortunate hollows that were in the way.

"Hikotsu Taiho!" shouted Renji from beside her, swinging Zabimaru. He was fighting a new arrancar, now that Momo had finished off the one he had been fighting. He couldn't help notice that Rukia's attack was stronger, that the circle was larger, and the air colder. He wondered if it was because of all the snow in the air, or her determination, or maybe she'd just gotten stronger when he wasn't looking.

Chad, who had been keeping a low profile during the fight so far, now came out into the open, slaying hollows and arrancar alike with a determined air.

Izuru had pushed himself up, and standing with two of the vaizards, he too fought with all his strength.

Ikkaku and Yumichika were fighting together, Ikkaku his usual fighting self, and Yumichika complaining with distaste of what the snow and dust in the air from the explosions was doing to his skin and hair.

Momo dragged herself up as well, fighting her exhaustion and dizziness. She had recovered somewhat, and was throwing herself back into the fight. Raising Tobiume, she thought, _Are you ready, Tobiume?_

_**Are you sure **_**you're **_**ready for this?**_

_Yes. I may not have mastered it, but I can barely move fast, let along shunpo. I need it._

Okay, be careful…Momo

Raising Tobiume, she called out in determination "Shiroi Tsubasa! (White Wings)"

White wings sprouted from her back, made of concentrated white reiatsu. They looked almost like insubstantial, pure-white glowing feathers, surrounded with a faint pink reiatsu. She felt energy course through her, and though she knew that as soon as her bankai fades (which probably won't be long, since she'd used so much energy already), she would have no strength left, but she didn't care. For now, she was able to move with speed, and attack. She looked at Toushirou, who was locked in combat with Aizen. She didn't think that he was as all right as he looked, for there was a thin crease on his forehead, and a slight look of pain that he was not able to completely hide. But he was unwavering in his fight, not letting his pain get in the way.

_As long as he can fight, I will fight as well. He is in so much more pain than I_, she thought. _But Shirou-chan…please be careful. I don't know what to do if I lose you._

The arrancar were subtly shocked at their strength. The new reinforcements had invigorated the fighters further, and the enemy began to fall slightly at the sheer forces and strength of their wills.

Aizen, however, was far from worrying about his subordinates. Aiming another strike at Toushirou, his face held nothing but scorn. Toushirou dodged the attack. Raising his had, and after checking that no one was nearby, Toushirou said "Hadou 95, Hyakurai! (Hundred lightning bolts. See author notes)"

Clouds in the sky rumbled with energy, and golden electricity crackled across them. Then, without warning, huge bolts of lightning shot down in destructive columns, reducing anything they touched to nothing but smoking cinders. The noise was deafening, and the force of the attack felt by everyone. No one could predict where they would fall, and the attacks came down at such speed that it seemed that Aizen would have no chance to dodge. However, as the last of the bolts vanished, and the dust cleared, there stood Aizen, a little disheveled and a few cuts on him from little sparks of electricity that had escaped the big bolts, but otherwise unharmed.

"A level 90 kidou without incantation and at such a level. When did you achieve that?" Aizen asked with mock interest.

Toushiro frowned slightly at Aizen. "I trained to that level ever since you were rumored to have achieved that," he spat, as if admitting something horrid. "But I just achieved it recently."

"That wasn't much time, yet it was so strong. Is that due to your newly raised power, or maybe because you're just so adept at controlling weather that such kidou is easy for you," Aizen smirked as Toushirou glared coldly at him. "So you still want to kill me so much that you would do anything. You know very well that you cannot, unless you have something that I don't know about, and power stronger than mine," Aizen taunted.

Toushirou smiled slightly. "I do, but you'd never understand," he replied as he shunpoed toward Aizen to land another strike. Aizen ducked out of the way, and immediately swung his zanpakutou at Toushirou, with every intention of cutting off his lower body. However, the lithe young captain was much too fast, leaping back, arcing his body and swinging his legs out of the way of the incoming blade. Without pause, he swung his zanpakutou down at Aizen while still floating in mid-air, but Aizen blocked quickly.

"I know I can't kill you myself," Toushirou said calmly, taking advantage of their close distance. "And I never for a moment had any intention to do so."

"What?!" Aizen said, narrowing his eyes as he slashed out, causing Toushirou to flip back through the air. Toushirou swung his zanpakutou at Aizen, and before Aizen could attack, sent a shower of ice and water at him. The ice twisted to form spears, but Aizen sliced through them easily as though it was water. However, the distraction had been what Toushirou had been going for.

"This is the difference between you and me. You trust no one, and work alone. None of us have your power at this moment. But the thing is, we all trust each other. We all work together to fight, because we are the Gotei 13. And even those outside the Gotei 13, they have their own bands, all built on trust. And when we band together, we band together by loyalty. That's something that you, Aizen, a man who betrayed everyone's trust and in turn trusts no one, can never understand. The strength of everyone united, that is what you do not know about, nor have."

Some nearby shinigami heard him, and though they realized that this was the truth, they wondered what the captain was getting at.

Aizen snarled in anger and swung his zanpakutou at Toushirou again. The young captain leapt above the blade, and then pushed it down again with a sandaled foot. "Until now, we all made the same mistake. We all fought alone. We were all fighting on the same side, and for the same cause, but we were in context fighting independently. Therefore, no matter how many times you were struck, or what way you were attacked, you couldn't be defeated."

Aizen gnashed his teeth and swung his sword to knock Toushirou off. Toushirou flew up into the air, unperturbed and continued to speak. "Now I realize our mistake. The only way to kill you is to combine all of our attacks."

"You think it's so easy? You think that it will be that easy to be able to have enough time to combine all your attacks like that? You think that you, a mere poor boy from Rukongai and all these other pathetic weaklings can beat me, even _if _you were to combine your attacks? You are mistaken, Hitsugaya Toushirou, sadly mistaken. I've had enough of you all! I'm going to end this all right now!"

Aizen, after giving Toushirou one more livid glare of supreme hatred, gathered his reiatsu, more reiatsu than he'd ever gathered at once. Glaring at the awakened Guardian, his eyes filled with hatred beyond that of comprehension, he released a huge wave of deadly reiatsu flying. "You've had your awakening, Hitsugaya Toushirou. Now it's my turn."

Reiatsu exploded, and a sinister light and black reiatsu flowed from Aizen's body, no longer any restraint over it.

If the shinigami had thought that his previous releases were frightening, then no words could describe the emotions they felt now. If the previous releases had been strong, then this new power was the power of the sun compared to a small spark. It roared, its power radiating and hitting them hard, sending some flying back through the air, and others struggle to remain where they were, even though the attack had not yet been administered. Its raw power was beyond imagination, drowning out all other.

Aizen's body began to morph. I stretched, becoming grotesque and almost hollow-like, yet at the same time, still resembling a mutilated sort of human shape. His eyes glowed a deep blood red, his pupil contracting until the black vanished. His irises expanded, devouring the whites of his eyes while his eyes grew bigger in a disconcerting way. Black scales, made of the same crystal like substance that the branches from before had been made of, sprouted from his skin, starting at his shoulders and racing down his limbs, covering them like an impenetrable armor. Black spikes rose up menacingly at his shoulders, knuckles and forearms. They glinted in the weak light, somehow blinding even when not reflecting the sun.

The power of his transformation shattered the air, rendering all nearby matter to shreds and dust. He let out a terrible roar as his transformation completed. He had truly become monster, terrifying and utterly grotesque, a sort of demon found only in the depths of hell.

There were screams and many shrunk back in horror, even the arrancar. Yumichika let out a shudder of fear and disgust as he was thrown to the ground by the reiatsu that still flowed from Aizen. Byakuya narrowed his eyes in distaste and the pressure, while sweat rolled down the temples of Izuru's face. Even Ulquiorra managed to show some expression of emotion as he looked at Aizen.

The last barriers of the worlds shattered. The white sands of Hueco Mundo crashed upon the ground. The senkaimon that the reinforcements had arrived in shattered as the saw the houses of Rukongai blur into sight, the citizens all on their knees from the reiatsu, and shaking with fear. The pillars that held Karakura town where it was cracked, shattering part way, and the town began to move back, the conscious citizens trembling, and the rest of the human world began to blur in together. The sky opened, and suddenly, the battlers were staring into the faces of the royal guard, all of whom had put up a barely stable barrier to prevent the onslaught of power from reaching the Royal Family. They were scrutinizing the fight with harsh faces, struggling to keep the barrier up.

Toushirou frowned, gripping his zanpakutou's hilt tightly, sweat rolled down his face and his eyebrows were furrowed. He bared his teeth against the reiatsu. _This power…I don't know if I'll be able to stop it…_

_**Remember your promise Toushirou, **_came Hyourinmaru's voice unexpectedly.

Toushirou glanced at Aizen. His eyes met his, pure-blue against marred crimson. He saw death and destruction in them. His mind raced. He saw only one way to end this.

Aizen's face twisted into a sick sort of smile, and he began to gather his energy for a final attack. The air itself began to shake and almost break apart from its power. If the attack were released, everything, everyone, and every world in existence, no matter what they were, would be utterly annihilated.

Toushirou racked his brain, forcing it to work beyond its limits. He could only think off one way to end this. One of the techniques that Hyourinmaru had told him about just after he'd awakened, much like "Hyaku Hiryuu". But that one had been easy to pull off, but this one, the energy required…it might be too much for his body the handle.

But he had promised.

He'd promised to protect everyone.

He'd promised that even if it killed him, he would bring Aizen down. He'd sworn to his soul, and he was not going to run again.

He knew what he had to do, and decided not to hesitate. There was no time to lose. Every second, the worlds merged more. Every second, it came closer to full destruction. He gathered every shred of energy and reiatsu inside him, every scrap of power he possessed and could reach, building it all up in his chest. _Hyourinmaru, please, lend me some of your strength, _he thought, and felt the sword in his hand hum in response.

He gathered every shred of reishi that was still pure in the air. Every drop of moisture, from the snow, the clouds, and heaven itself.

He gathered it all, keeping it reined, holding it ready, molding it to his needs. His body glowed as he did so, releasing spurts of ice-blue reiatsu. It seemed to fight against the darkness, tearing at it valiantly.

The two powers clashed. The two reiatsus recoiled and snapped at each other. Heaven and hell seemed to be clashing together in the form of the two clashing powers of the two people facing each other.

Toushirou's body shuddered, and he felt a pain course through it as he strained it, his previous wounds throbbing slightly, threatening to reopen. He wondered if he would be able to hold out. But something gave him strength.

Images of everyone flashed in front of him for a moment. All the people that he realized cared about him and supported him, as well as all that were fighting at his side. They were all with him, Momo, Matsumoto, Byakuya, Ukitake, and the rest of the Gotei 13…

_Aizen has always fought alone. I have everyone here, fighting together. We are all here with the same purpose. We are fighting together._

The thought gave him strength and the resolve he needed. He flew up, higher than ever before, higher than anyone has ever flew before, a graceful glowing figure against the stormy heavens, looking literally like one would expect a Guardian of Heaven would look.

Water and ice swirled and surrounded his body and zanpakutou. It twisted together, merging and forming into the giant dragon Hyourinmaru. The remaining water also curled together, details forming, defining, into smaller, more lithe versions of Hyourinmaru. The dragons surrounded the Guardian, awaiting his command.

Just as Aizen reached the peak of his power, just as it got too much, just as he was about to release his attack, Toushirou swung his zanpakutou toward him, crying out in effort to control the immense energy he released as he gave the dragon wings to fly, and the power to combat Aizen. The largest dragon shot ahead of the others, reishi and ice streaming off his body like stardust as it sliced through the air at unimaginable velocity. It slammed against the pressure of Aizen, pushing against it with a roar of defiance, its body quaking.

There was a pregnant pause, in which time seemed to stop. Then the dragon broke through. With a roar and a huge wave of reiatsu, it opened its jaws, dangerously sharp teeth glinting, and clamped them upon the monster that was Aizen, interrupting the attack. The teeth pierced through the crystal armor and into the flesh. Aizen let out a hiss and snarls as the dragon melted, freezing ice water covering his body and refreezing into ice, with Aizen frozen and immobilized. The dragon's strong tail slammed into the ground underneath. The whole body suddenly became still, freezing into a giant rigid pillar of ice, with Aizen trapped at the top, his attack completely destroyed. Suddenly, the worlds stopped merging, even if it was just for a moment.

As soon as the ice completely froze, the rest of the dragons caught up to the first. For the moment they circled Aizen, growling deep in their throats. The sound was guttural and terrible, and everyone could feel it deep in their chests.

Aizen struggled. He let out huge bursts reiatsu. He struggled, trying to break the ice, but it was futile, for the ice did not even shake and glowed blue every time he assaulted it with reiatsu.

The pressure in the air had lessened now that Aizen was trapped, and the other fighters finally managed to stand. They gaped in awe at Toushirou.

Toushirou himself flew to where Aizen was. He stopped about twenty feet away, looking on calmly, his icy front hiding the exhaustion and struggle from keeping Aizen down.

Aizen glared, panting slightly from the effort lost in his assault. "You still can't kill me. Even if you have me trapped like this, you don't have enough strength to kill me."

"No, not alone I can't," Toushirou stated. "But you will die today."

"Oh really, and what makes you so sure?"

"Because it's not only me who fights against you. You, who fight alone, are alone. Sure, you have your arrancar, but they don't work together. I fight for soul Society, _with _Soul Society. We are all fighting to bring you down. You've threatened not only soul Society, but many other worlds too. But that's all going to end now."

Toushirou's reiatsu began to manifest around him again, like a glowing blue mist. His eyes flashed blue. He raised Hyourinmaru high above him, and slashed through the sudden freezing air, releasing from it one last ice dragon. "Kinbaku, Tenryuu Hyōrō (Bind tightly, heavenly dragon ice prison. I was _so _not original when I created this…I sort of took the name from Sennen Hyōrō. Don't know if the grammar and vocab is right and all)

The dragon's surrounding Aizen suddenly all stopped circling him. They focuses ruby-red eyes on Aizen, and then, as one, flew toward the trapped man. They sand their lethal jaws into his body. A huge burst of reiatsu exploded from the moment of contact. The dragons turned to long branches of ice, protruding from Aizen in resemblance to the branches of a tree, only parallel to the ground. The last dragon, larger than any before, flew high into the sky, circling the area with such speed that it became a blue blur. A wind picked up, and wind and reiatsu was blown around violently. The arrancar and hollows were suddenly thrown out violently, though the shinigami, as well as the Vaizards and Ulquiorra and Nel were still inside. A sort of barrier of wind rose up around everyone, and the ice structure that kept Aizen imprisoned. The ice began to glow, along with Aizen, a brilliant blue as bright of the stars themselves.

Toushirou gripped his sword tightly. He could feel Aizen once again struggling to free himself, only this time with many times the strength, as he knew that if he didn't, he might die. Sweat beaded upon Toushirou's face from the strain of keeping Aizen sealed. He knew that he couldn't hold on for long.

"Hurry!" he shouted with strain, using nearly all his strength to keep Aizen immobilized. "Attack him now! The only way to kill him is if we combine the power of everyone's attacks and send it at him. That is the only way we can overpower him. Quickly, while he's still immobilized."

The shinigami all looked toward him and Aizen, varying expressions of uncertainty and unsure of what to do at his sudden order, still in shock from Toushirou's attack. "What do you mean?" Renji shouted, startled.

"Hurry!" Toushirou snarled in effort, not bothering with politeness as he felt Aizen almost break through his ice. His strength was depleting fast. "Hurry! Attack him, or the ice. It doesn't matter, because it will all reach him. Just do it before it's too late. It's not the time to ask stupid questions!"

A minute crack appeared in the ice. The glow intensified as Toushirou plunged every fiber of his energy into the ice. He could feel Hyourinmaru shake from strain as well. His body felt as if it will tear apart, but he persevered.

It was Byakuya who first understood. Almost immediately after Toushirou's shout, he leapt up into the air until he was level with Aizen. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, and all but slammed Senbonzakura down, bypassing the first stages of his bankai. "Gokei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"

Millions upon millions of glowing, dangerously sharp pink blades rose up, then all whizzed toward Aizen, flying through the air at indescribable speed, surrounding Aizen like a could, and slowly closing in, leaving no angle for escape, if Aizen had been capable of escape.

Momo caught on almost of the same time. Though her body was screaming in pain and exhaustion, she knew that Toushirou was in much more pain. She watched his pained face as he strained to keep Aizen down. _He's doing this to save us all…"_

Without hesitation, she raised Tobiume with determination. She poured all her energy into the blade and the attack. Thousands of medium sized, high-energy reiatsu spheres rose up around her, glowing with intense violet, like a ripe plum. She watched as her white wings broke apart, the reiatsu that formed them flying to the spheres and surrounded them. She gave a cry as she swung her blade down toward Aizen, shooting the energy spheres at Aizen. The white reiatsu from her wings seemed to turn into wings for the spheres, allowing them to move at double the speed they normally would.

_This is for you, Shirou-chan, _she though as she began to fall almost as soon as she released her attack, since she no longer had her wings nor energy to stay airborne. She managed let her legs hit the ground first, though with an ominous crack and hot searing pain, they shattered from force, making her collapse, lying on the ground, in pain. _It's the lease I can to for you…_

The flying "plums" joined the pink blades; some of its reiatsu seemed to merge with the sakura blades as they both drew closer. The others all immediately snapped into action from the demonstration.

"C'mon, we have to help!" "Hitsugaya-taichou can't hold on for much longer!" "Hurry!"

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!" Rukia shouted, swinging her pure white blade.

"Hikotsu Taiho!" Renji shouted from beside her.

"Unare, Haineko!"

"Ikorose, Shinso!"

"Okiro, Benihime!"

"Buttsubuse, Getetsuburi!"

"Bankai, ryumon Hozukimaru!" Ikkaku suddenly shouted, leaping into the air, surprising everyone, especially those who knew about his bankai. He spun the giant blade quickly, and then attacked the ice, sending jolts of energy racing down the ice toward Aizen.

"Skikurue, Ruri'iro Kujaku!" Yumichika said, following Ikkaku's lead and also revealing his secret. Ikkaku gaped at him, but he smirked, saying "At times like these, we need to use our full power."

Kyouraku smirked to himself as he raised his blade, still in bankai, and attacked as well. Ukitake also ascended his bankai, and the two captain's bankai's shimmered and shook the air as they joined the others.

"Bankai, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo!"

"Karire, Kazeshini!"

"Banshō issai kaijin to nase, Ryujin Jakka!" Yamamoto boomed.

"Bankai, Kokujo Tengu Myo'o!" Komamura said, putting all his effort into his attack.

"Ugate, Gonryomaru!"

"Hashire, Itegumo!"

Ulquiorra and Nel exchanged one fleeting look before also releasing their zanpakutou's, feeling it almost ironic to attack their once ago master.

"Tozaze, Murciélago!" Ulquiorra said calmly.

"Utae, Gamuza," Nel said right after.

They sent there attacks racing down the ice. Immediately after, there came from behind them a mad cackle, and the two sonido'ed out of the way just as Zaraki shot past them, missing them by inches. "This is awesome!" Zaraki shouted in mad exhilaration, sending his own wave of powerful golden reiatsu at Aizen. Yachiru giggled from his shoulder before leaping off of it, somersaulting in the air for a second, and then sending her own attack. "This is so fun, Ken-chan. I have to thank Shirou-chan later for letting us do this!"

The Vaizards also raised their zanpakutou's, attacking with their masks in place again, making the air tremble with their power.

Uryu raised his bow, gritting his teeth against the pain of his wounds. He sent a thousand bolts of deadly powerful arrows shotting forward. Bedisde him, Orihime stood up as well. "Tsubaki, Koten Zanshun! I reject!"

Chad raised his arm. "El Directo!" he grunted.

Soi Fon stood, once again anchoring herself to a tall building by her Ginjohan. She gathered the last bit of reiatsu that she had left, wondering if she'd be able to perform the technique. "Bankai, Jakuho Raikoben!" The huge missile at the base of the armor on her right arm shot forward with shocking speed. Her lieutenant, who was a bit away, winced at the thought of its explosion when it hits.

Yoruichi, who was also nearby, smiled slightly at Soi Fon, a sort of pride in her eyes as she shunpoed right up to the ice, striking it with a series of lightning fast strikes, each filled with the power of powerful strikes, enhanced by the pressurized kidou. The attack raced along the ice, the kidou flaring like lightning.

Every single person against Aizen all sent a powerful attack shooting at Aizen. They all either sent their attack directly at Aizen, or if it was a close range weapon, they sent the attack racing along the ice. Some sent Kidou, while others just their zanpakutou's attacks. The attacks, though remaining quite individual, at the same time seemed to almost sort of fuse with the others slightly. They were all racing toward Aizen at close proximity to each other, merging together and separate at the same time. The ones still watching knew that there must be something about the air and ice-prison that caused their attacks to act this way, but didn't think on it.

The royal guard members looked at each other. Then, without a word, some broke through the barrier. Somehow, they were admitted into the wind shield. Hiyori gasped as she recognized Hikifune Kirio. They also sent a powerful attack at Aizen. Kirio gave Hiyori one motherly glance before following her companions and quickly withdrawing from the area, and back to the shield in the sky.

The espada and arrancar outside the wind shield tried to stop them, but were unable to enter the area. Something stopped them, slamming into them like a huge ice wall, and they had no doubts that it was the white haired boy and the circling ice dragon's doing.

Ichigo leapt up. He saw all the attacks at Aizen, all filled with power. Everyone was putting all their strength into the attacks. They all wanted it to be over.

He looked at Toushirou. The captain looked on the edge of his limit, keeping Aizen trapped and the arrancar out.

_C'mon, Toushirou, _he thought, gripping Zangetsu's hilt tightly, frowning in concentration. _Just give me a few more seconds._

He converged all his energy in his zanpakutou. He drew the power of every fiber of his being, from his hollow side, and his shinigami side.

His eyes narrowed in concentration and black reiatsu, though not sinister like Aizen's had been, surrounded him. He raised his blade. "Getsuga…TENSHOU!"

And as soon as the words left his lips, the strongest attack he'd ever created was released, shooting toward Aizen just as the other attacks were about to make contact. And as soon as it was released, Toushirou let go at last, unable to hold on, but knowing that it didn't matter anymore. The last ice dragon that circled them overhead stopped and coiling gracefully, shot down to join the attacks, flying ahead of Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou. It too merged slightly with the attack before it, and Ichigo's attack following immediately after it.

Aizen saw them coming, yet he was unable to do anything, frozen and immobilized by the ice. He felt the strength, the unbearable agony, as each attack hit him, one right after the other, the first not having completely faded before the next one hit. His body was overwhelmed by the power. He couldn't move, couldn't even scream. There was no time between each hit to even draw breath. He felt his blood burst from wounds all over his body, felt his body deteriorate with each assault.

A huge explosion of light, reiatsu, and dust shot up. He felt the ice shatter, both from the energy ripping through the air, and from Toushirou's sudden release on it. But he couldn't do anything. There was no time.

He looked through the dust, and saw one last ice dragon, body trailing ice, water, and reiatsu, shooting toward him. It was full-fledged, terrible red eyes blazing, and a low roar in his throat. It hit him, claws and teeth sinking into his flesh, cracking the last of the armor of crystal. It slammed into him, sharp ice cutting into him and strong body wrapping around him and breaking him easily as if he was a snowflake. Ice and cold as cold as a million winters combined seeped into his body, freezing him to the core of his being, freezing his first expression of fear and terror on his face. His eyes reflected one last attack, the huge, black Getsuga Tenshou, shooting toward him. It was coming, bringing the blade of the Guillotine upon him at last.

Fear gripped his frozen and mutilated heart. He knew that it was the end of him. In the last few seconds of his existence, he could help the bitter feelings that rose like bile in his throat. A burning hatred and bitterness took over his whole being.

_I worked so hard, I got so far, only to be thwarted by _these _pathetic fools?_

_**I warned you, Aizen.**_

Normally, Aizen would have been surprised to hear Kyouka Suigetsu's voice at any time. But his bitterness overwhelmed any other emotion. "You sound satisfied, but you realize that you're been shattered too."

_**Yes, but being shattered like this serves only to finally free me from you. I warned you that your plans would turn on you, but you never heeded my words and forced me to do your will. Now you see?**_

Aizen smirked inwardly. "So, the zanpakutou knows best, as always," he said sarcastically.

The Getsuga Tenshou hit the thing that was Aizen. The greatest eruption of reiatsu exploded upon contact, knocking many people down. It was the explosion of a giant mass star in a huge supernova, and explosion of so much force and reiatsu that time and space seemed to have been ripped into shreds. The shinigami closed their eyes, and tried to futilely shield themselves tightly against the fierce wind and bright light of the reiatsu, dust, ice, and what looked like sakura petals that flew through the air. Their torn clothing and hair whipped fiercely around them.

Soi Fon was thrown back and hit her head upon a broken concrete slab. Momo was thrown back many feet, wincing in pain. Even Byakuya was thrown into the air, though he managed to flip in the air and land carefully on his feet a distance away, narrowing his eyes against the wind and reiatsu.

Ichigo and Toushirou leapt from the fierce storm, Ichigo covering his face, and Toushirou still, frowning into the explosion.

And then at last, the light faded, and the wind calmed.

All was silent.

Everyone was silently staring at the huge crater in the ground where Aizen had last been. Debris of ice and dust lay everywhere.

Aizen, whether alive or dead, was nowhere to be seen.

"Is…is it over?" Rukia murmured tentatively, voicing the question that was burning in everyone's minds, but didn't dare voice.

Dust suddenly began to converge at the center of the crater. With a dull glow, the Hougyoku materialized. It shuddered for a moment, then cracks suddenly appeared in it. The next second it shattered, crumbling to dust. Urahara gave a soft sigh.

A silver flash shot across their field of vision. Their eyes widened as they saw a zanpakutou, Kyouka Suigetsu, fall to the ground from the sky. It landed, perfectly perpendicular to the ground, point submerged in the stone beneath. It quivered for a moment, before suddenly splitting cleanly into two pieces, the top part with the hilt clattering and bouncing as it hit the ground.

A torn piece of white cloth, looking battered and torn from an arrancar outfit, drifted to rest by the broken sword.

There were shrieks of "Aizen-sama!" and "Aizen-sama was been defeated!" and "Quick, go back!" The arrancar stumbled clumsily, bumping into each other and ripping a garganta in the sky. They all stumbled through, trying as fast as they can to leave the battlefield, before the shinigami turned on them, though the shinigami were obviously not giving chase. Soon, all the hollows and arrancar were gone.

The worlds had stopped shaking. All around, humans, hollows, shinigami, and any other beings and animals wondered what could have happened, looking around them warily. Slowly, they watched as the fake Karakura town began to vanish. The worlds began to separate again, and miraculously, even the real Karakura town began to move back as Urahara used the last of his strength to partially mend the broken pillars.

"Umm, so what happened?" Keigo asked Tatsuki, the only one nearby.

"Dunno," she replied.

Ichigo's little sisters just stared at the sky, a thoughtful expression on Karin's face.

Unohana stepped to the edge of the crater. She surveyed the battleground. Bodies and remains of arrancar and shinigami alike lay strewn across the area. Debris, dust, and ice also choked the ground. The building's had mostly been deteriorated.

She scanned the area carefully with reiatsu.

Then she smiled. "I sense no trace of Aizen's reiatsu," she said, looking up as the clouds above parted, and a lone ray of sunlight broke through the dark clouds and touched the place where the last remains of Aizen's power and Aizen himself lay in the form of his roken sword, the shattered Hougyoku, and tattered cloth.

"It's over at last."

* * *

Author's notes

The end! Yay! *Throws confetti* Yes, I have just killed the mood. Thank you all for reading. I'm sorry that this chapter was so long, but I didn't want to cut it anywhere. I would really appreciated if you would review, though, to let me know what you think. Please no flamers though. I am a sensitive person.

Of course, this isn't the _end _end. If Bleach ended here, then it would suck. I wrote the next bit, but it didn't fit with this story, so it will be a sequel called "After the End". It will be an attempt at typing up loose ends. Warning, there will be a bit of fail romance in it, and a little depressing. More info later, but if any of the parings in that one offends you, you don't have to hate this story, right?

I took some liberties with the attacks they used. I hope you didn't mind. Hadou 95, I made up. There is no such thing, and never will be, as far as I know, but it doesn't really matter, because there are multiple number of spells to each level, such as Soren Sokatsui and Raikoho both being level 63. So even if there was a spell for 95, this one could still exist. Momo's bankai…well, I've read in a fanfic somewhere about wings. Originally, I didn't plan to use wings at all, but then thought about how it was _Tobiume, _meaning _Flying Plum Tree. _I thought that it would make sense for wings. I know it's overused, but I liked it.

And if you were interested, the attacks were, in order, Byakuya, Momo, Rukia, Renji, Matsumoto, Gin, Urahara, Omaeda, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kyouraku, Ukitake, Kurotsuchi, Hisagi, Yamamoto, Komamura, Sasakibe, Isane, Ulquiorra, Nel, Zaraki, Yachiru, and then the vaizards (I didn't know their releases), Uryu, Orihime, Chad, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, some of the royal guard, and then lastly, Toushirou and then Ichigo. I'm sorry if I missed anyone, so if I did, and you noticed, please message me so I can fix it.

I have recently revised it and added the Royal Guard, because I realized that they never showed up. I know it's crudely done, but I'll fix it later when I have more time.

Thanks again for reading, and for all those who favourited it or reviewed.


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